A Warrior Reborn
by Tari J. Deitrich
Summary: Nine years ago, Hacker deleted a young gargoyle named Max, daughter of Dr. Matthias Marbles. Or so he thought. Now that he's found out she still lives, the race is on for one to eliminate the other. First item on the agenda for Hacker, take over Cyberspace and apprehend Max in the process. Trouble is, can Max really do what she's supposed to? Book #3 of Evil Within Trilogy.
1. Highway to Hell

_If you've read A Tortured Soul, you probably already know this is kind of second-hand reading. anyway, i've gone through A Warrior Reborn and made some corrections there to. one major correction was max's age when she joined the warriors of shangri-la. i made her a year younger just so it would fit better with A Black Heart.  
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__I don't own Cyberchase. __Max is mine._  
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><p>Chapter One<br>Highway to Hell

Previously in Cyberchase: A Tortured Soul . . .

_You never give up, do you?" Max demanded._

"_Nevah!" Hacker shot back._

"_Admit it, Funnel-gut, your ship is too wide and too heavy for half the stuff I can do in this body. Eons of evolution have made us the perfect flying machine." Max said._

_Hacker shook with anger. _Funnel-gut? Where does she come up with these insults? They're even more pathetic than mine! Wait, did I just say my insults were pathetic? Grr.

"_Well, your gargoyle body is missing something my ship has." Hacker announced._

"_Like what?" Max said._

"_Fire power."_

_Hacker punched the thrust button and his ship zoomed forward until its nose was almost touching Max's barb again. Max did another spiraling roll which took her away from the Grimm Wreaker._

_Which was precisely what Hacker wanted._

_Hacker stared at the widened view screen. A flip of a switch brought up a cross-hair targeting system. The Wreaker's cargo bay opened and a gun dropped out. The targeting system beeped as it centered on Max's rear end and Hacker fired._

_Max felt the smallest prick of a feather-tipped needle impale her backside. Before Max knew what was happening, she felt dizzy and her eyes grew heavy. Her wings stopped beating and she began to drop._

_The tranquilizer gun was replaced with a claw which snatched Max out of the air and drew her up into the ship's cargo bay _

"_What was that you were saying about 'catch me if you can'?" Hacker taunted._

1

Now the conclusion . . .

It was window-cleaning day in Control Central. As usual, it was Digit's job to do it. Window-cleaning was Digit's least favorite chore because it required him to reach _all_ the windows. Meaning he had to ascend to great heights in order to get to the upper windows in the great control dome where Motherboard's terminal was. And Digit hated heights.

A few years back before Digit came online, Digit's friends – Dr. Marbles and his daughter, Max – had installed a few bars at regular intervals up the windows to the top of the dome. Each bar had enough room for footholds. Max had also rigged a climbing harness and short rope just for cleaning. After Digit returned to Control Central from the Northern Frontier, Marbles laid out a list of chores for Digit to take care of in Marbles' absence and even revamped Max's old climbing harness to better fit Digit – or rather, fit around his bird-like body.

This morning, Digit donned the harness and decked it out with a cleaning rag and window-treatment spray. Then, with the rope skillfully threaded through the carabiner, Digit mounted the first bar, latched the carabiner to a hole in a rafter that curved all the way up to the top, and started cleaning. In order to keep his mind off how far up he was – especially on one of the more higher-up bars – Digit started singing (rather off key) to songs by his favorite band: The Dixie Chicks.

"I said, 'I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something

Wild and unruly'

I wanna sleep on the hard ground

In the comfort of your arms

On a pillow of blue bonnets

In a blanket made of stars

Oh it sounds good to me

"I say, 'Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue'

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to Heaven above and

Closer to you, closer to you

"I wanna walk and not run

I wanna skip and not fall

I wanna look at the horizon

And not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one

For miles and miles

Except for maybe you

And your simple smile

Oh it sounds good to me

Yes it sounds so good to me

"Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to Heaven above and

Closer to you, closer to you

"I said, 'I wanna touch the earth

I wanna break it in my hands

I wanna grow something

Wild and unruly'

Oh it sounds so good to me

"Cowboy take me away

Fly this girl as high as you can

Into the wild blue

Set me free oh I pray

Closer to Heaven above and

Closer to you, closer to you

Closer to you

Cowboy take me away

Closer to you."1

Just as the last note faded off, Motherboard's terminal beeped.

"You have cybermail!" The tone said.

"Who's it from, Motherboard?" Digit asked. He unhooked himself from the top rafter and fluttered to the deck. "Who sent you the message?"

Motherboard scanned the message, worry etched on her holographic face. "It's from Max." She said.

"Max? Is she okay? What does it say?" Digit said. These days, Max never sent Motherboard messages just in case Hacker was to intercept them. In truth, Digit was now panicking on the inside. Any message from Max at this point could only be bad news.

"I'm not sure what to make of this." Motherboard said. "What do you see?"

Digit read the message which Motherboard displayed on a lower screen.

"_Motherboard. It's Max. I don't know how but you-know-who found me. Track me through my serial number and send help, fast. I'm pretty sure you-know-who has some dastardly plan for me that neither of us is going to like. PS don't include Dad in this. I don't want him getting caught either. Even if I go, he'll still be able to find a cure for your virus. So, please don't get him involved. Signed, Max."_

"Motherboard! What do we do? Hacker has Max!" Digit said.

"He does? Digit, you contact Dr. Marbles. I'll get the kids." Motherboard said.

"But Max said don't get the Doc involved with this." Digit pointed out.

"I know. But he'll want to know." Motherboard said.

Well, Digit couldn't argue with that. He headed off to somewhere a little more quiet and private and contacted Dr. Marbles. No answer. Digit tried again. Still no answer. About the third time he redialed, Marbles finally picked up.

"Yes, what is it, Digit?" Marbles asked.

"Doc, Hacker's found Max." Digit gasped out.

"What? How – how is that possible? I thought she was being careful." Marbles said.

"I don't know. He just found her. Motherboard is tracking her serial code, now. She asked me to summon you. She thought you would like to go with the Cybersquad to retrieve her." Digit said.

"Tell Motherboard to send me a portal." Marbles said.

"Will do."

"Final load."

In only a few minutes after his conversation with Marbles ended, Motherboard opened a portal and deposited Marbles and the Cybersquad unceremoniously on the floor.

"What's going on, Motherboard?" Matt asked.

Motherboard fuzzed out and couldn't answer so Digit responded instead.

"The Hacker's got Max."

"Hacker has Max?" The Cybersquad said.

"Yep. Motherboard has been able to track Max's signal from over Cybersite Foresteria. It has, effectively ended at the Northern Frontier. She hasn't moved from there since." The cyboid said.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Matt said.

"Wait. I want to save Max as much as the next person, but what exactly is Hacker doing to her?" Inez said. "I think we should know so we would know what to expect."

"We don't know." Digit said. "But, with Max being the one person bent on destroying him, you can bet it won't be pretty . . . or pleasant."

"Then we must hurry to retrieve my daughter before he destroys her." Marbles said.

"Agreed. Portal please, Motherboard." Jackie said.

The Cybersquad and Dr. Marbles were deposited, roughly, onto the hard, dirt ground a short league from Hacker's compound. They got up and dusted themselves off.

"Not one of our best landings." Digit said.

"I suppose not. The virus has only made Motherboard's portals hazardous to dismount from." Said the Doc, adjusting his zip-up jacket as one who had "dismounted" from several rabid portals before.

"Well this should be interesting." Matt said. "I mean, we've rescued Dr. Marbles on several occasions from Hacker, but we've never actually worked _with_ you."

"This will be a new and pleasant experience to me, as well." Dr. Marbles said, kindly. "Something I very much look forward to. But we do not have time to discuss the uniqueness of this particular moment. We must hurry if we are to prevent Max from going offline."

The Cybersquad agreed and the five figures stole across the lawn toward the compound; skirting brush and swivel-head security cameras as they went. Then, when they came upon one of the wide windows of the compound, they peeked inside and immediately wished they hadn't.

Max's scarred body was stretched out on the floor. The prosthetic arm and leg had been removed and were thrown in a box of scrap metal. A chain was wrapped multiple times around the wing ridge and was even pass through holes in the leathery membrane – rendering her unable to fly. Her barbed tail was secured to the floor with a steel hoop just behind the barb. Her right arm and leg were held to the floor with shackles. Chains circled her body laying between each ridge and were secured to the floor with hoops. Max looked so sad and helpless laying there that the Cybersquad felt sorry for her.

Marbles gritted his teeth and exhaled through his mustache while his hands clenched into fists.

"That monster!" He nearly shrieked.

"What's wrong, Dr. Marbles?" Inez asked.

The good doctor pointed to the manacles and chain and hoop. "To the average eye, all you see are restraints on a big, defenseless beast. A closer look will tell you a different prerogative."

Digit squinted at the hoop."You mean that cable?"

"Correct, Digit." Marbles said. "Those restraints may have originally been programmed to restrain. But Hacker reprogrammed them for a much more vile purpose."

"Like what?" Matt asked.

Marbles face went stony with worry. "Electrocution."

"What?" Inez exclaimed. "Hackers going to electrocute Max again?"

"He can't do that!" Jackie added. "He'll kill her!"

For the first time ever, the kids saw Dr. Marbles start to cry. Digit had seen him cry once before and was startled to see him do it again. Then, Digit considered the distinct possibility that Marbles may have cried when he discovered Max had been kidnapped.

"I believe that Hacker's prerogative at the moment." Marbles said, his voice was tight.

Inez patted the doc's shoulder, comfortingly. "We'll free her, Dr. Marbles. Just like we freed you on multiple occasions."

The doc looked at her. "I do not fear that you will free her. What I do fear is the condition she will be in when you do."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get her!" Digit said, powering up his propeller he began to hover but Matt pulled him down.

"Wait! Look there!" Matt said, pointing.

Hacker had arrived at the scene with Buzz and Delete in tow. Both robots were armed with video equipment which were trained on Hacker who was garbed in royal attire: a large purple cape trimmed with a black and white feather hem, and a golden crown atop his pointy head. Hacker strutted, purposefully to Max's side and grinned down, evilly, at his captive. Then, he turned back, to a camera-toting Delete.

"Citizen's of Cyberspace. You are watching The Hacker Network. Featuring the one and only Hacker in his greatest triumph ever.

"Now, I have been asking around as to the whereabouts of Max Marbles. Many of you claimed you didn't know where she was or if she was even still around – well, for those of you who ware skeptic, here is the proof! Max still lives. But she won't be alive for too much longer. Behold the Defender of Cyberspace!"

Delete turned his camera in Max's direction and zoomed in on her face.

Meanwhile, Digit had rooted around in his chest hatch until he found a viewer and dialed into The Hacker Network. Then, with his four companions huddled behind him, he watched the grave play out.

"It appears he sedated her." Marbles observed in a whisper. He tapped the screen with a finger. "See how her right eye is barely open. That's a positive sign of a sedative."

"That's disgusting." Jackie said.

"It's just a sedative, Jax." Matt said.

"No. I mean how he's flaunting his victory on TV like that. It's disgusting." Jackie corrected.

"You're right, Jackie. Hacker wants everyone to know that he cannot be defeated by even someone like Max. Everyone knows he's been looking for her and he wants to prove he has her." Marbles had been looking at Jackie while he was speaking. Then, he turned back to the spectacle on Digit's viewer. "He wants everyone to see Max in this pitiful state. And, he wants everyone to see her die."

The camera went back to Hacker who was now proudly pacing the room; hands folded behind his back.

"Some of you may remember the times when gargoyles were considered a danger to Cyber-civilization. They deleted a good number of us and we retaliated.

"Some of you may also remember the pact that was made between the gargoyles and Motherboard. The pact was that no gargoyle is to cause harm to any Cyber-citizen, intentionally or unintentionally. Max is accused of planning to cause harm – that is premeditated and it punishable by death.

"Now I know I'm not a Cyber-citizen, but I live here, same as the rest of you. I have a right to live, same as the rest of you. So for Max to plan to delete me, that is a severe crime and since her crime is against me, _I'll _be the one to dish out the punishment.

"I know some of you might remember Max as the precious little Cyborg who stood alongside Dr. Marbles. But, look at her now. She's a gargoyle. Therefore, our laws against gargoyles now apply to her. You know this so I don't want to hear any complaints."

Hacker strode to a large generator stacked in a corner. Delete skillfully followed his boss with the camera. Hacker flipped a few switches and put his hand on a lever. He turned and grinned at the camera.

"Say good-bye to the 'Defender of Cyberspace'!"

His green hand pushed down on the lever. The generator sparked and spat. Max's body lifted off the floor, straining against the chains and hoops. She convulsed and shook and screamed and roared.

The sight was awful to say the least, horrible at most. The kids looked away. Inez and Jackie hugged each other and Matt covered his face with both hands.

Hacker turned off the generator and Max gave out a low exhale and relaxed. He faced the camera.

"You all know that strong doses of electricity is dangerous to a gargoyle. But it's the easiest way to unplug them, as the saying goes." Hacker said, switching the generator back on. The camera panned back to Max while she stretched against her restraints then back to Hacker as he turned the generator off.

Beside her, Inez could feel Marbles shaking with anger and fear. She sympathized with Marbles. Max was more than a project he designed and created. He was his daughter. It was difficult for him to watch his child be tortured so.

Hacker turned up the dial on the generator to twice the volts he was using before. He grinned wickedly to Max.

"Good-bye, my little sister."

"Stop!"

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><p>1"Cowboy Take Me Away" Dixie Chicks<p>


	2. A Father's Protest

_I don't own Cyberchase_._ Max is mine.  
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><p>Chapter Two<br>A Father's Protest

Marbles stood in the doorway to the compound. Delete automatically panned the camera in his direction and Marbles' face was clearly seen on the viewer. An angry father ready to defend his child.

"Marbles?" Hacker said in astonishment. "What are you doing here?"

"Preventing you from making a mistake, Hacker." Marble said. The kindness everyone was used to seeing was gone. In its place was an expression of rage never before seen on anyone. Least of all, Dr. Marbles.

"What _mistake_ would that be?" Hacker asked.

"You were about to delete someone who is innocent. Max never did anything to you the rest of us would do in her place." Marbles said. "You accuse her of being a gargoyle who is now bound by gargoyle laws. That is true. But you left out that it was _you_ who made her this way."

"A minor technicality." Hacker said.

"No. Not minor at all. Max was a loving and caring young cyborg. Everyone here remembers her that way. If she is any way different than normal, you have only yourself to blame." Marbles said.

"_Myself?_ If you hadn't made her so bloody stubborn, I wouldn't need to do it to begin with." Hacker said.

"You didn't have to do anything to her." Marbles pointed out. "She was only a child. Only a seven-year-old child and you destroyed her. She was innocent and vibrant. You took all that away from her. You tortured and mutated her. You changed her entire being. If her crimes against you are anything to compare to, yours would be much more vast."

"I'm only trying to get what I deserve!" Hacker protested.

"You deserve nothing!" Marbles said. He reached into the box of scrap parts and withdrew Max's mechanical arm. "Now, release her!"

"No." Hacker said, sharply. "I am saving Cyberspace from a terrible fate. Once she succeeds in destroying me, she won't stop. She'll enjoy destroying so much that she'll want more and more.

"The child you once knew is gone, Marbles, replaced with a mindless killing machine. Once she destroys me, she won't be able to stop. She'll kill everyone – including you and everyone else she knows. She'll only stop once everyone here has been deleted. Then, you'll have only yourself to blame for not destroying her."

"You're wrong about her on all accounts, Hacker." Marbles said. "The period of war between gargoyle and borg is over. Max, herself, has more self-control than anyone else I know. She _would_ be able to stop herself. She is _not_ the monster you paint her out to be."

Marbles, noticing Delete was still filming, turned toward the camera. "Friends! Listen to me! Heed the words of a father and a borg you have trusted. You know Max. You knew her since she came online. Some of you remember what she was like as a child. You know she would not do these things Hacker is accusing her of because she is not like that. Max may have changed on the outside, but she is still the same in her mind. Some of you have interacted with her. You now this. She may be a gargoyle now, but she's still retained the borg qualities the rest of you know and love.

"Don't tell me you're willing to let this happen. Don't tell me you're willing to let him destroy Max because of what she is! Look at her. Look at her right now." Marbles motioned to Max still tied to the floor. A line of drool made its way down her chin and mixed with the vomit on the floor. Delete turned the camera to Max and everyone could hear the pitiful moans coming from her pain-wracked body.

"Is that the face of a murderer? She has never done anything to you, citizens of Cyberspace, nor will she do anything bad to you. You know this and so do I. Motherboard would not have given her so much leash – so much leeway – if she thought Max was a danger to us all. If you will not trust me, trust in your leader, Motherboard."

"Motherboard can be deceived, as can you." Hacker said. "Are you trying to defend a gargoyle who may or may not be dangerous, all because you claim her as your daughter? Are you really going to chance the fact that she might be dangerous? What if I let her go and she decides to be a killer? Are you going to chance it if she is guilty?"

"Are you going to chance killing her if she's innocent? I'm not speaking because I'm her father and her creator. I'm speaking because I know her. She has nothing but our world's best interest in mind. That has been her prerogative since the beginning. That has not changed even if she has. Now release her!"

"No!" Hacker shouted. He threw the switch.

Max rose completely off the ground. The chains stretched and creaked. She alternated between screaming and vomiting thick bile. Her muscles spasmed and her wings and tail shook. Her head rocked back and forth. The chains looped through the membrane ripped at the leather as she stretched her wings an in attempt to free them and fly away from the pain.

Digit, unable to watch anymore, dropped his viewer and flew in with the kids right behind him. Digit swooped in, grabbed the cables in his wings and pulled. The cables separated from the generator and Max relaxed.

"No! Stop!" Hacker shouted. He ran to grab the cyboid but Marbles knocked him down with Max's arm to the side of his head.

Inez knelt by Max's head and smoothed back the thick, tangled mane. Max groaned and her good eye barely opened only to see the sweet, human girl, before closing completely. Digit rushed over, transforming his beak into a pair of bolt cutters as he went. He clamped down on the chain circling her body and Matt pulled the links through the hoops. Then, Digit bit the chain on her wings so Jackie could carefully unwind that from her membrane and ridge. Then, he bit the hoops holding her arm, leg, and tail in two. Then, Matt reached down and grabbed a cable that was plugged into the sockets where her prosthetic arm and leg had been and pulled them out.

"We're free." Matt said.

Inez whipped out her Sqwackpad. "Motherboard, we've got Max! Send a portal now!"

A portal swirled to life above them, sucking them into its depths. Marbles snatched Max's leg out of the pile and jumped in after them, showing instructions to Motherboard as the vacuum sucked them up.

"Take us to Shangri-La!"

Meanwhile, Hacker rose off the floor and turned to the still-rolling camera.

"As you can see," Hacker said to the watchers, "There are those who will always protect her even if she will one day become a killer. No matter. I will find her, and when I do, I will make sure she dies. I promise you that."


	3. Temple of Care

__I don't own Cyberchase. __Max is mine._  
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><p>Chapter Three<br>Temple of Care

Max was in bad shape when Motherboard dropped the six of them off at Shangri-La's gates. She was barely breathing, her mouth slack and right eye partially open. Digit gripped Max's right paw with his wing and was stunned when she did not grip his feathers in return. Marbles noticed, too, and ran to alert the warriors.

"Gargoyle down! Gargoyle down!" He shouted.

The thick gates opened within minutes of Marbles' alert and eight bearers marched out led by the diminutive Red Warrior. They approached Max – shooing Digit and the kids away as they laid the stretcher down and rolled her battered body onto it.

The Red Warrior placed his ear against Max's chest. He signed and said, "We have little time. Take her to the Temple of Care."

The warriors nodded once and bore the stretcher to their shoulders. The Red Warrior stayed behind and addressed Marbles.

"She was electrocuted, wasn't she?"

Marbles could only nod.

"Hacker?"

Another nod.

Red sighed. "We were afraid this would happen. Come."

They followed Red into Shangri-La and up into a Bogota where they were admitted into a room. "Stay. We will call you when it is time for you to be called. You may do what you like but do not leave this room."

"How is Max?" Inez blurted out.

Red regarded her. "She is very weak. Electricity is deadly to a gargoyle. From what I heard from her heart. I can assume she has been electrocuted many times at high voltage."

"That's right." Jackie said.

Red regarded her next. "I will pass that on. Thank you for your information. Now, we will get back to work."

Marbles presented Red with Max's arm and leg. "Can you take these to her, please?"

"We will not need them right now." Red told him. "I will call you when we are done." With that, Red shut the door and left.

Marbles paced the room like a caged animal; clutching the oversized limbs to him like he was afraid to let them go. Digit perched on the arm of a chair. Matt lounged on the one bed in the whole room. Jackie went to one of the windows and looked out wile Inez worked on a puzzle book she found in a drawer under another window.

"What's that noise?" Jackie said after a few minutes of silence.

All activity in the room ceased. Everyone listened and Marbles joined Jackie by the window.

"Those are the warriors down in the Temple of care. They're chanting and praying while Master Pi heals Max." he said. Then, as though a thought had occurred to him, Marbles went to the low table, laid both prosthetic limbs out, and opened them up.

"What are you doing, Doc?" Digit asked, fluttering to the table's edge.

"I feel I must inspect these parts." Marbles said. "After all, they have been in Hacker's possession for some time. I must make sure he did not reprogram them."

"Good idea." Digit said. He opened his chest hatch and out came a toolbox.

Digit had primarily agreed with the Doc's assessment only to encourage him to do something. As long as Marbles was doing maintenance work, his mind would be off Max who was now being healed. Repairing things usually distracted the Doc from everything else.

The room was mostly silent except for the occasional sounds of Marbles hard at work checking Max's replacement parts and Inez's pencil on paper. Matt had closed his eyes and resorted to snoozing while he waited to hear any news and Jackie was still watching the odd ceremony in the Temple of Care; occasionally telling them things like "Now they're dancing" or "Now they're beating drums."

Marbles was only half-paying attention to what was going on. His thoughts interrupted whenever the twelve-year-old spoke. Having spent some time with Max in Shangri-La, Marbles knew many of their ceremonies by heart.

"The dance is to keep evil spirits at bay." He said. "The drums make the sound of her heart."

At the mention of the drumbeats equals heart beats, Inez looked up. "Do you suppose Max is aware of any of this?"

Marbles shrugged and said nothing.

Digit handed him a flat-head jeweler's screwdriver which Marbles used to remove a circuit board and a CPU form the leg.

"We're better off not assuming anything at this point." The cyboid said. "Max was pretty heavily sedated before that incident on the Northern Frontier. Whether or not the electricity was a wake up call is hard to say. We may never know anything until Max wakes up."

Marbles still said nothing as he scanned the circuit board and CPU with his Sqwackpad, checked the readings, and returned both parts to their places. Then, he poked at the gears with the edge of the screwdriver.

"These gears are extremely dry. It is a wonder Max could even use this leg at all." Marbles said. "Digit, I require oil."

Digit dug out a can of oil and a syringe. Marbles filled the needle with the oil and gently sprayed each gear with the smallest amount of lubricant. Then, with his screwdriver, Marbles carefully moved the gear around their spindle, stopping only when the gear refused to move, then sprayed the ornery pieces and tried again; spraying them only when he wasn't satisfied with the result.

Eventually, Inez got bored with her puzzle book and went to the table to see what Marbles was doing. She scanned the appendage, critically with her eyes, then regarded Marbles.

"That's a pretty interesting piece of equipment you got here." She commented.

"Thank you." Marbles said, simply.

"How do they work?" Inez continued, encouraging Marbles to keep his mind off Max.

Marbles reached inside the leg again and screwed the circuit board back in place. Then, he detached the battery and servo motor, scanned them, and replaced the battery before returning both back to their places. Marbles then wiped his hands on a rag which had been in the toolbox, closed the lid to the leg's machinery, and set the limb aside before answering.

"Max may have lost her arm and leg, but her brain is still sending out signals to move them. These parts take those signals and amplify them."1

"How?" Inez pressed. Normally Marbles was only all too willing to discuss the inner-workings of one of his inventions. Today, he only seemed interested in "fixing" Max's replacements, lest Hacker had changed something – which could be a very bad thing.

Marbles looked at her. Then, with a pen, he pointed to the pegs at the top of both limbs.

"This peg works the same way as a radio receiver does. It takes the signals her brain sends out, passes them through the CPU which translates the signals into computer code and sends them to the circuit board. The CB, in turn, pings the servo motor which moves the parts."

"Does it take much time for, say, a finger to move?" Inez asked.

Marbles shook his head. "No. Ada and I have developed these parts so the action will be instantaneous once the signal leaves her brain."

"So the prosthetic parts were designed to be sort of natural." Inez said.

It wasn't a question, but Marbles treated it as one.

"Yes. I suppose you could call it natural."

Having gotten bored with the procession, Jackie joined Inez, the Doc, and Digit at the table. They watched as Marbles opened a panel on Max's arm, scanned it with his Sqwack, read the results, closed the panel, and opened a different panel.

"Dr. Marbles -" Jackie began.

"- Yes?" The Doc said, absently.

"When you were giving Max her replacement parts, how did she feel about relying on robot body parts?" Jackie asked.

"She did not really have much of a choice." Marbles answered. "With her left arm and leg gone, she would not be able to crawl like other gargoyles. Technicality, she would not be able to move like other gargoyles. Max has her pride and did not want to be carried everywhere nor did she want to be trapped here on Shangri-La for the remainder of her natural life. So, she agreed to be fitted with replacements."

"What about her eye? Wasn't her eye gone, too?" Jackie asked.

Marbles stopped what he was doing just to look up at both human girls. "Yes. In fact it was. The Dematerializer made short work of that portion of her face. Now, there is nothing more than a hole where her eye and the socket around it had been eaten away. A portion of her skull is missing, too. The eye-patch you have observed is, quite literally, just an eye-patch with an optical device."

"How does the eye-patch work?" Inez asked.

"The eye-patch, itself, is fused to the side of her face to prevent infection. The eye is level with what is left of the socket. The optic nerve was plugged into the back of the robotic eye, thus permitting her to see."

The girls were quiet again as they digested this bit of information. They continued to watch Marbles as he fiddled with the circuit board, battery, servo motor, and CPU. Satisfied those were in working order – particularly after the replaced the battery – he checked the gears and oiled them as needed.

The room was quiet, once more, except for the occasional snore from Matt and a scrape of metal against metal from Marbles' tinkering. Nobody noticed the ceremony had ended until Digit happened to look out the window.

"Hey. It's awfully quiet out there."

All activity stopped. Even Matt stopped snoring. His eyes open and staring out the window.

"Hey. You're right, Didge. Wonder if Max survived." Matt said.

The screwdriver slipped out of Marbles' normally stable hands and clattered on the table top. He flexed his fingers as though working out a cramp, but by the look on his face, everyone knew he was trying not to think of the worst.

They heard sandals on the stairs leading up to their room. Everyone stood up as the door opened and the Red Warrior stepped in.

"Max is alive. But she is still very weak. This is the second time in her life she has been electrocuted to near nonexistence. This time, she almost didn't make it."

"Is there anything seriously wrong with her?" Digit asked.

"Only some temporary side-effects from having her body charged with 360 volts of electricity. Occasionally she will twitch or something but that is fairly normal. The most damage she sustained was to her wings. The membrane has been ruined beyond repair and there are a few hairline fractures to the ridges. I can only assume the damage was caused by a chain."

"Yes." Marbles said.

Red looked disgusted but quickly composed himself. "Dr. Marbles, Master Pi has given you permission to attend to your daughter. You may bring the replacement parts with you."

"May my assistant, Digit, come with me?" Marbles asked.

Red considered it and said, "Don't get under foot."

"Right." Digit said.

They cleaned up their mess, grabbed the two parts, and started out the door. Then, Marbles turned to his three friends.

"Perhaps it would be better if you three tried to get some rest. If Max wakes up, I will have someone come retrieve you."

"Okay, Dr. Marbles." Matt said. With a yawn, he collapsed on the bed and the snooze fest began once more.

Inez gave the Doc a reassuring squeeze to the elbow. "You going to be okay?"

Marbles gave her a small smile. "I will be just as soon as Max restarts." He patted her on the head, then withdrew. In his place, two warriors entered and unrolled mats, spread out pillows and blankets, then left.

Jackie fell asleep first, but Inez was still awake; her mind still rolling over the day's activities. Every time she closed her eyes, she still saw Max on the floor – shaking and twitching and screaming. The screams were loud and shook Inez to the core. She found she blamed Hacker for it. She found she blamed Hacker for a lot of things.

Exhausted from a long day, Inez finally fell asleep. But her dreams were still disturbed by images from Max being tortured. Her screams loud and long. Inez was running to save the gargoyle, but no matter how hard she ran, the compound was only getting farther and farther away. Then, Max's ruined face appeared, eye-patch missing from her face. Max reached out to Inez with a paw, the left one, and Inez reached out to grab it but it quickly vanished in a cloud of binary code.

0

Inez awoke with a start, sweat dampening her face and her heart pounded. She gasped, unable to shake the terrible nightmare.

"My pardon. Are you alright?" Said one of the tall warriors who squatted beside her.

Inez nodded. "Yeah. Just a dream." She said. She looked out the window and saw that it was morning. "How's Max?"

"She has awakened and has already begun taking a stroll through our site." The warrior said, handing Inez a glass of water.

"What? She's already on the move?"

"Gargoyles heal very quickly. We are quite pleased with her recovery. We did not think she would, last night, but her will to defeat Hacker is strong." The warrior said.

"Can I go see her?"

"Certainly. But first you must eat."

The warrior pointed to a breakfast set up on the low table. Inez sat down and ate. The food was strange but good. While she ate, she looked around the room. Matt was still asleep on the bed and Jackie was sprawled out on her mat. Marbles and Digit were in the room too. Both in sleep-mode. Marbles laid on his belly on another mat; mouth open. Digit was nestled on a pillow with a blanket draped over his body, his head tucked under his wing.

Once Inez had eaten her fill, she got up and went to find Max, no difficult task because of Max's vastness and her color. She found Max sitting on a bridge overlooking a reflection pond. She was not alone. Master Pi was with her and the two seemed to be trapped in a serious conversation. Inez stayed away so as not to impose.

* * *

><p>1"[Max's] arm and leg are gone, but [her] brain is still sending out signals to move them. These parts take those signals and amplify them." - edited lines from FullMetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa<p>


	4. The Sash

_I don't own Cyberchase_._ Max is mine. Also, the name Absolem and the line "He's absolute. He's Absolem" comes from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I kind of have mixed feelings about that movie. I like it, but at the same time I thought it was a little wierd. I mean, it's the only alice in wonderland movie i've seen that actually made sense - if alice in wonderland could make sense.  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<br>The Sash

"Look at yourself, Max. You used to be impulsive and impatient. You wanted to be somewhere and you wanted to be there now. Yet, here you are. What has changed?" Master Pi's low, mellow voice said.

Max continued to keep her gaze away from her teacher. "A lot of things have changed, Master."

"But why did it change? You are not yourself. You seem to be reflecting on a great deal here." Master Pi said.

"Because I have a great deal to think about." Max said.

"Your mission?"

"Yes."

"Ah. You do not think you are ready."

That time, Max looked at him. "How did you know that?"

"I know a lot of things about you, little one." Master Pi said. "You have been given this task for a single purpose. Aside from Motherboard, you have suffered most. The virus makes Motherboard sick, but it does not cause her pain. You have been down the road of pain. He has hurt you. Therefore, it must be you."

"But Master, I am not read. I'm – I'm not strong enough." Max protested.

"What makes you say that, little one?"

Max looked back at the reflection pond. "Before I was captured, I was leaving Cybersite Foresteria. I had paid a visit to Absolem the Deserter. Absolem told me I would fail because I seek vengeance. He said that unless I open my heart to forgiveness, I will never succeed."

Master Pi was silent and Max realized she shouldn't have visited Absolem – nor should she have told Master Pi that she had seen the deserter. Max sighed.

"He also told me that because I did not become a Shield-maiden, I am unprepared." She added.

"Ah yes. The title of Shield-maiden. Did I ever tell you that I was about to give you the colors?" Max shook her head. "I was. But you decided to head for home before I could give you the colors. You were overanxious . . impulsive . . . impatient."

"I think we established that." Max said.

"Yes, we did." Master Pi agreed. He placed a thin hand in Max's mane and a gentle growl vibrated her throat. "When you first came to our site and begged for me to accept you and teach you our was, I was reluctant to do so. You were only three when you came, but you acted so much older. Even so, I could see you were unprepared for what lay ahead. I considered turning you away, but then I saw the value of passing the knowledge of our art to a young borg such as yourself."

"Is that why you took me in, Master? Is that why you chose to accept me?"

"That was, and always will be, my reasoning, little one. If I was ever rough on you, that is because I knew you could do so much better than you are. When you left, I did know I pushed you too hard to do everything I asked, but I also knew you were too impatient to wait."

"What did you do, Master – after I left, I mean." Max asked, her head went down, sheepishly.

"I chose to wait and see if you would return, and you did. Though not in the way I was hoping." Master Pi patted her head, his slim arm fitting neatly through the spiraling horns that curved backwards over her skull top.

"I know." Max said. "I didn't expect to return this way either."

They were, again, silent. Both watched the koi swim in the reflection pond.

Max sighed ans shook her head until her mane fluttered and settled back into place. Her ears – which had been somewhat droopy due to a lack of energy – flicked back.

"Master, am I really ready for this? I mean, truly ready?"

"It does not really matter what I think. The question is, what do you think?"

"Absolem doesn't think I'm ready. He says I'm running and that I will surely fail. He says I'll fail because I want vengeance and I can't forgive _him_ for doing what he did to me."

"There, Absolem would be right." Master Pi said.

Max sighed again. "So I'm _not_ ready."

"Not quite so, dear one. Absolem has lived for a great many eons. He has gained much wisdom. But he tends to lord his knowledge over others in return for snalfus and trinkets. He left our order for reasons of his own devising. He felt our order was suppressing his wisdom with our rules. He left us and no longer speaks to us."

"I always assumed as much." Max said.

"Little one, you have just given me the opinion of someone else. But you did not answer my question. I asked you if you thought you were ready, but you said _Absolem_ did not think you were, not that _you_ did not think you were. I ask you again, do you think you are ready?"

"Master, if I was not ready to accept being a Shield-maiden then how am I ready to accept this task? I was not programmed to be a killer." Max said.

"Those, little one, are excuses. You were not programmed for a lot of things, yet you did them. You were not programmed to be a warrior, yet you trained to be one. You were not programmed to be turned into a gargoyle, yet you were. You were not programmed to be tortured, mutated, mutilated, and nearly deleted, yet you were. Do not say that this task goes against your programming."

"But it does. Dad never meant for this to happen."

"Your father never meant for a lot of things to happen, little one, yet they did. When he created you-know-who, he was building an assistant not knowing this assistant would go bad. When he built you, he was building a daughter not knowing she would be the savior of our world."

"Some savior I am." Max snorted. "I'm not even strong enough to escape the effects of a tranq. Nor was I able to outrun the Grimm Wreaker."

"Do not think of yourself as weak, Max Marbles. Tranquilizers were developed during the period of war between borgs and gargoyles. Motherboard had banned them, however people can still get a short supply of them these days. Because it was developed to work against gargoyles and you are now a gargoyle, of course you would have been effected by it."

Max was not really willing to accept that explanation. "Maybe we need to get those darts banned completely."

"Maybe." Master Pi said, nodding sagely.

Again, both were silent. Then,

"Max Marbles, are you prepared to accept your role as Defender of Cyberspace and Warrioress of Shangri-La?"

Max turned to face her teacher and knelt as best as her large body would allow. "Yes, Master."

"A Shield-maiden lies in wait. A Shield-maiden does not rush into battle. A Shield-maiden waits for the appointed time. And a Shield-maiden knows when enough is enough. Do you agree to learn these conditions I have just given you? To practice our art to the fullest extent of your ability? To observe our laws and put them into practice everyday of your life?"

"Yes Master." Max said.

"A Shield-maiden does not harbor anger, hate, or vengeance in her heart. A Shield-maiden knows when to love and forgive someone for their faults. And, above all, a Shield-maiden must not hold her enemy's faults above them lest she be judged for her faults. Do you agree to these conditions I have just given you? To practice our art to the fullest extent of your ability? To observe our laws and put them into practice everyday of your life?"

"Yes Master." Max said.

Master Pi reached into the fold of his wide, blue sleeve and withdrew a red sash trimmed with gold. A blue shield was sewed into the shoulder with the golden Pi symbol emblazoned over it. Max lifted her right forepaw and shifted her damaged right wing as best as she could while Master Pi placed the sash over her head and snapped it shut at her right hip.

"I now name you, Max Marbles, Shield-maiden of Shangri-La." Master Pi said as he touched Max's forehead with his staff.

Max knelt, again. Eons of self-discipline taught her not to hug or lick her teacher as that was not up to warrior standards.

"Thank you, Master." She said.

"Now, I must depart. You should get some rest to recover your strength. But first, there are some who wish to speak with you."


	5. The Lullaby

__I don't own Cyberchase. __Max is mine._  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<br>The Lullaby

Now Inez was curious. She had been too far away to hear what Max and Master Pi were talking about, so she didn't know what the deal was with the bowing and the forehead-touching and the sash. She wondered if it was part of a bizarre ceremony.

"Good morning."

Inez squeaked and turned around to find Dr. Marbles standing behind her. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed judging by the condition of his rumpled zip-up jacket. His posture was poor – shoulders rolled forward, head bent. His hands were jammed into the pockets of his jeans and there was a fish-bone comb poking out of one of the pockets.

"Good morning, Dr. Marbles." Inez said. "How are you doing this morning?"

Marbles shrugged. "Fine, I suppose. Now that Max is fine, that is."

"That's good." Inez said.

They stood there in awkward silence, waiting for the other to speak. Then, Marbles motioned to Max who was still sitting on the bridge.

"Did something interesting just happen?"

"You could say that." Inez said.

Marbles centered his gaze on Max. His eyes widened behind his red-rimmed glasses. "Is – is that the sash of a Shield-maiden?"

"I don't know." Inez said. "I only saw Master Pi give it to her after a lot of talking. What does it mean, anyway, Dr. Marbles? What the heck is a Shield-maiden?"

"It's an elite warrior from Shangri-La. Incredibly strong and powerful. Rules of normal warriors do not apply to them. Now, Shield-maidens are female warriors. Their male counterparts are called Sword-Thanes. Sword-Thanes are more common that Shield-maidens.

"When Max was a child, Motherboard used to rock her to sleep at night with tales of the Shield-maidens of Shangri-La. One day, when Max was three, she came to me and said 'Dad, I want to be a Shield-maiden. I want to go to Shangri-La and learn how to be a warrioress from Master Pi. Please, can I go, Dad?' She used to ask me that question a lot. I did not really know how to tell her no so I told her to ask me later. Finally, I gave in and gave her the go-ahead."

"How does one become a Shield-maiden or Sword-Thane?" Inez asked.

"Well, first you need to undergo basic training. Then, once you pass basic training, you are apprenticed to someone who is trained in the elite art of Maiden or Thane." Said Max who – despite her size – managed to sneak up on her father and friend.

Once again, Inez squeaked in fright. Max lowered her head apologetically.

"Did I scare you?"

"A little. I seem to be a little on edge this morning. I didn't sleep very well last night." Inez told her.

"I don't blame you. Motherboard probably shouldn't have brought you guys into this. Watching someone try to kill me isn't something a kid should see." Max said. "And, I specifically asked Motherboard not to bring _you_ into this either, Dad."

"Well, she involved me anyway." Marbles said.

He took the comb out of his pocket and motioned for Max to lay down so he could get to the snarls in her mane. She stretched out and laid her head on her paws.

"Why did she?" Max asked. "I told her I didn't want you coming to my rescue in case he tried to kidnap you. If both of us go, then there's a clear path to Motherboard and that's the last thing any of us wants."

Marbles picked at a knot with the edge of the comb. Max grimaced and let out a growl of warning. He tapped a spiraling horn as though to say "Stop it! I'm doing the best I can!"

"Well, Motherboard thought I would be needed. And she was right. You-know-who took your replacements off and I spent a good half-hour checking them to make sure they were functioning properly." Marbles said. "Besides, she could not have prevented me from coming after you even if she wanted to. You're my daughter and you mean a lot to me, Max."

Max lifted her head and gave Marbles' face a slobbery lick. Marbles wiped his face off on his sleeve then rubbed Max's scarred muzzle. "Quit that." He said, playfully.

"You mean a lot to me too, Dad." Max said.

"Besides, Max, you came out to rescue me even though doing so could have been a trap. Therefore, we are even." Marbles pointed out.

Max hissed through her fangs as Marbles' comb snagged on a snarl and pulled at her scalp. "Okay. I guess we are."

Inez yawning caught Max's eye. The gargoyle's barbed tail shifted away from her stomach. "You know, if you're really tired, you can lean against me if you want."

"You sure?" Inez asked, apprehensively. "Isn't there something in the gargoyle rules about fraternizing with humans or borgs?"

"I suppose you could say that." Max said. "But, I'm not really a gargoyle and I've just given you permission to lean on me."

Inez leaned against Max's warm belly right between the metallic limbs. "Okay, can we go back to Maidens and Thanes?"

"Sure. What do you want to know?" Max said.

"Well, how many Maidens or Thanes are there?"

"Only one Maiden can exist be trained at a time every fifty eons. Thanes are the same way, only there can only be four at a time." Max said.

"Why so few?" Inez asked. "Shouldn't there be more?"

"Oh, there are. But they're more in the 'waiting' phase of their training. Once a spot opens up – a Maiden or a Thane expires – then one of the warriors steps in and accepts the title. After being trained, of course. A Thane or a Maiden becomes their teacher."

"So, who was your teacher?"

"The Red Warrior. He was the last Thane from the previous generation. And, since there wasn't a Maiden living right now, I got to step up and start my training right away. I just hadn't been named Shield-maiden yet, was all."

"Why? What happened?" Inez asked.

"I got impatient. Decided I didn't – YOW! Watch how you're pulling that!"

"Sorry." Marbles mumbled.

"Decided I couldn't wait to get my colors any more and left." Max continued.

Inez plucked at the sash which had settled between Max's wings. "Are these the Shield-maiden's colors?"

"Yep. Of course this one is only temporary. They revamped a sash to fit my gargoyle body. Once I get my borg body back, they'll give me a smaller one." Max said.

Marbles paused a moment in his combing to hug his kid around her neck. "I'm proud of you, Max." He said.

Max's right paw rose to gently pat him on the back. "Thanks, Dad." She said.

"I was wondering when you would come back and accept the colors." Marbles added.

The cyborg-gargoyle shrugged, nonchalantly. "Master Pi just gave it to me because, one, I earned it, and two, he thought it would help if I had something to show for my efforts. In a way, this is supposed to boost my confidence."

Marbles paused and pretended to scan the lock he had been working on when, in actuality, he was trying not to look Max quizzically in the eye.

"Why would your confidence need boosted?" Inez asked.

Max took a deep breath. Then, she told them about Foresteria and Absolem. She told them everything about her conversation with the Shangri-La deserter. Including his assumptions that her running off before accepting the Shield-maiden title meant she was not ready to follow the path of the warrior and, therefore, that meant she was not ready to face off her enemy.

"He basically said I was weak." Max added when her tale was done.

Marbles grabbed Max's face with both hands and pulled her head in his direction. "Max Marbles, you listen to me! You. Are. Not. Weak. You never were weak and you never will be weak. You refrain from destroying your enemy because it is not in your nature. For that, I am grateful. I do not want a killer for a daughter but this task is something that was appointed to you. You have the means, the power, and the aptitude to do it. If you need time away before doing this terrible thing, so be it. It's not cowardice. This is being smart. Remember this, Max."

Max licked her father's face again, much more gently and less slobbery this time. "Thanks Dad."

"Besides." Inez said, climbing up to Max's shoulders so she could help untangle to mats. "You've spent a few years learning how to be a warrior of Shangri-La, you've been a gargoyle for about that long, too. I'm sure you could win if you really wanted to. You have an advantage over you-know-who than you realize."

"That's true." Max said. "Still, it almost seems like an unfair fight. He's a borg and I'm a gargoyle. Two minutes in the ring with me and he wouldn't be worth selling for scrap."

Inez and Marbles shuddered.

Max heard Inez yawn.

"Look, if you want to take a nap, go ahead." The cyborg-gargoyle said.

"I don't think I could make it back to the Bogota at this point." Inez said.

Max's barbed tail gently touched Inez's shoulder. "Then rest here."

The ten-year-old human rolled back off Max's shoulder and leaned against the warm – very warm – gargoyle stomach. A stomach which was also surprisingly soft despite the rough, sharp scales. Inez placed her head gently against Max's ribs and fell asleep to a low song which vibrated through her chest.

"Natsuhiboshi why are you so red?  
>Because I had a sad dream last night<br>My eyes are red from the tears I've shed  
>Swollen as I cried.<p>

"Natsuhiboshi why've you lost your way?  
>I'm searching for a child who's gone afar<br>He can't be found though I've searched all day  
>My sad dreams come once more."1<p>

* * *

><p>1"Natsuhiboshi" A lullaby from the Naruto Franchise; sung by Hoshigakure Kunoichi, Natsuhi, mother of Sumaru<p>


	6. Max's Request and Gratitude

__I don't own Cyberchase. __Max is mine._  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<br>Max's Request and Gratitude

When Inez awoke that evening, she found she wasn't in the grove leaning against Max anymore. She was laying on the bed Matt had been occupying earlier. Her shoes and glasses were gone and the quilt was tucked all the way up to her chin. Inez sat up, located her glasses, and looked around.

Matt, Jackie, and Dr. Marbles were nowhere to be found. Max was curled up, asleep, on the floor with something tucked between her paws. It took Inez a moment to realize that Max had actually curved her sinuous body around Digit; her claws gently holding the sleeping cyboid in the catch of her throat.

Inez slowly slipped her feet into her shoes and tip-toed to the sleeping gargoyle, underestimating the strength of gargoyle hearing. However, Max stayed silent and still. Her massive chest the only thing that really moved. Inez carefully knelt by Max to examine her huge wings. She didn't know why but Max fascinated her to no end.

She tentatively reached out and touched the wing-ridge. Expecting to feel leather and scales, Inez was startled to find that Max's wings had been strapped in an immobile state with white tape – which blended in neatly with Max's own white skin to the point where it didn't appear there was tape at all. She rubbed her hand down the ridge and found there were only three strips and they wrapped all the way around Max's huge frame, holding both wings to her sides and freezing the joints in place. Then, Inez found the membrane and touched it, startled when she found the holes where Hacker had threaded the chains through to prevent her from flying off.

"You should be careful what you touch." Max said, lifting her head to regard the curious pre-teen. "Those holes in my wings are sore and I've still got a couple of hair-line fractures in that ridge you were just fingering."

Inez withdrew sharply and stepped back a few paces; acting like she had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. "I'm sorry. I just wondered what they felt like is all. I didn't know you were still awake either."

"I wasn't. I'm just a light sleeper. Something I developed while in training – so my enemy can't sneak up on me."

Inez dropped her head sheepishly. "I'm sorry."

The gargoyle nodded, knowingly. "You're forgiven. I just suggest not touching them again. Least ways not while they're trying to heal."

"I won't." Inez promised.

Digit moved in her arms. Max's attention went back to him; claws relaxed to allow room for him to move then tightened again to cradle him closer to her.

"Come, sit next to me. There's a few things I would like to discuss with you." Max told the human girl.

Inez hesitated then leaned against Max's warm belly again. "Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, for one, thanks for being Digit's friend. It means a lot to me knowing he has a few someones he can turn to if he needs you." Max said.

Inez glanced at the cyboid in Max's paws. Digit mumbled something in his sleep and stretched out his legs until they almost touched Max's leg. Her grip tightened gently around him and she rubbed a claw against one of his wings. Digit looked rather cute. His small size easily disappeared in the mass of metal and scales.

"No problem." Inez said. "He's easy to love."

Max smiled, leathery lips parting over sharp fangs as a chuckle rumbled through her throat. "That he is." She agreed. "That he is."

"Why did you feel the need to thank me for being his friend? Aren't _you_ still his friend?" The human girl asked.

Max nodded. "Well, yeah. He also has Motherboard and Dad. But it's not nearly the same as the kind of relationship you three have with him. Dad usually keeps him around as an assistant since you-know-who failed to live up to that expectation. Motherboard just relies on him to take Dad's place when he can't be there to do repairs. Other than those two, I was really the only person he had in his life he could actually consider a friend. And I was his friend when the two of us were on you-know-who's ship. That was a time when both of us needed a friend.

"I'm just thanking you because – well – he needed people like you. He thought I was gone, not that I could blame him since we never gave him a reason to suspect otherwise. Dad told me that since Digit suspected I was gone, he was sad and mopey. He didn't really want to do anything. Now that he has you three, Motherboard told me Digit had never been happier."

"Were you always friends with him?" Inez asked.

Max was silent for a time and Inez knew the answer before Max even said it.

"No. I was not always his friend."

"Why not? You agreed with me that he is easy to love! So why didn't you like him?"

"Because he carried the mark of my big brother, who I hated. I hated you-know-who long before he betrayed us. Not to mention I caught Digit in my room without permission the first day I met him and I accused him of spying on me for you-know-who. It wasn't until I got to be talking with him that I realized you-know-who might have made him but you-know-who's will did not rule over Digit. Therefore, Digit was nothing like you-know-who and my hatred of Digit was not worth anything." Max said.

"So, you guys weren't always friends? That's almost hard to believe. Everywhere Digit goes he makes friends." Inez pointed out.

"I know. That's one of his best qualities. He's a klutz but everyone likes him anyway. He can be fairly stupid in the worst of times but it's not really considered an annoyance."

"Max, if you-know-who made Digit, then why is he so 'stupid'?" Asked Inez.

"Just you-know-who's way of making him superior to somebody. See, it annoyed him that he had to fall into Dad's shadow. It annoyed him that Dad always had a solution for something, no matter what size the problem was. So you-know-who built someone with an IQ less than his own to make him feel smarter. Same thing with Buzz and Delete, except that Digit could beat those two in any test of brains you give them."

"I'm sure he would." Inez laughed.

Then, she stopped laughing as Digit mumbled something and stirred fitfully in his sleep. Max bent her head and whispered something to Digit and he calmed down.

"Have you ever thought about, maybe, reprogramming Digit? You know, boosting his IQ?" Inez asked.

"Dad and I discussed doing it a couple of times but neither of us actually has the heart to do it. The biggest reason is it's illegal to revamp something somebody else made. If Digit was my creation, or even my Dad's, it would be okay. But he's not our creation so it's not okay. The other reason is because not only would it change Digit's brainpower, but his personality as well. We like him just the way he is so we see no reason to change him." Max explained.

Inez stroked Max's metal arm and felt the scale-like engravings etched into its surface. "I'm glad you see it that way. We like him just the way he is, too."

"Good." Max said.

The two sat in silence. Then, "Thanks for saving my father a few times too. It means a lot to me that there's someone other than Motherboard looking out for him, too."

"It's been our pleasure. Of course there have been a few close calls when we almost didn't get to him in time." Inez said.

"I know. Dad's told me a lot about you guys. He said 'Those three friends from earth are the best thing that has happened to Cyberspace since the first integrated circuit'. Between you and me, that's a compliment Dad does not express lightly."

"I'm sure he doesn't." Inez said. "Anything else."

"Yeah. I don't want you guys in Cyberspace when I confront you-know-who. It's not something I'm going to be proud of doing. Not to mention it'll be ugly. I don't want you three to witness something like that."

"No problem." Inez said after a moment's silence.

She was thinking about every weapon Max had in her arsenal: Tail barb, claws, teeth, horns. Then, Inez realized Max didn't just _have_ weapons, she _was_ a weapon. Her entire being was built around a need to destroy something. Inez had witnessed the destruction of rocks and the tearing of metal under Max's paws. She had seen how the cyborg-gargoyle's mouth had opened like a snake to nearly swallow Hacker whole. And, she had seen the marks in the sand where Max's tail had left grooves. She had no doubt the battle between cyborg-gargoyle and cyborg was going to be ugly. This was going to be a sibling rivalry gone completely sour.

"I mean it." Max said, cutting into Inez's thoughts. Her voice was hard and stern, leaving no room for argument. "I don't want you three here when I call _him_ out on his deeds."

"Okay." Inez said, timidly.

"Good. Now you guys should probably go home. You've been in Cyberspace long enough to last you a while." Max said.

"How long have we been here?" Inez asked.

"About sixteen hours." Max said, matter-of-factly.

"Sixteen hours? How could Motherboard let us stay here for so long?" Inez blurted out.

"You guys were tired. She thought you should rest. It's not like your parents actually missed you anyway. I hear the time is different between our worlds."

"Yeah. In our first adventure here, we were gone from our world for hours, but when we went back it was like we were gone for only a few minutes."

"Fascinating." Max said.

"Isn't it though?" Inez said, rhetorically.

"Your friends are waiting for you by the pond. Dad already left. He's on his way to find a cure for Motherboard. I told Motherboard to be ready to get you." Max said.

"What are you going to do?" Inez asked.

"Me? I have to get ready for this final battle. There's some stuff I have to do to prepare for it. Among these is the preparation of myself." Max answered.

"Okay." Inez stood up, hugged Max and kissed Digit on the cheek before leaving.

Max heard her three human friends greet each other, call Motherboard for a portal to the real world, and leave. The cyborg-gargoyle sighed. She was not looking forward to doing what she had to do. But it had to be done.

Tonight, she was going to the reflection pond to start a "dream fast"1. But first, she had to rest a while. Dream fasts took a lot of time and energy. Time being the element she was rapidly running out of.

* * *

><p>1"Dream Fast" - term from George Lucas' <em>The Dark Crystal<em>


	7. Dream Fast

__I don't own Cyberchase. __Max is mine._  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven<br>Dream Fast

Digit awoke from sleep mode to warm feathers and a feeling of well-rest. Looking out the window, he saw that darkness had already come. And Digit realized he should have been back to Control Central four hours ago. Yet, when he tried to move, he found something heavy pressing down on his wings.

Digit panicked for a moment before realizing it was Max's head was resting on his body. Her sinuous frame wrapped around him with both paws holding him to her throat. The position was reminiscent of their times aboard the Grimm Wreaker. The times he and Max slept side by side had been the only good times they had. It was like their dreams were the reality and the reality was the nightmare.

While Digit wanted nothing more than to reflect on the similarities and differences of this time, he knew he had to get back to work. He struggled against Max and managed to slide out. Unfortunately, he had also awakened Max.

"Going some where, Didge?" The gargoyle said with a yawn so large, Digit could almost see down her esophagus.

Digit stretched until his joints popped back into place. "Yeah, Max. I should've been gone hours ago. I can't believe I slept this long." He said.

"Motherboard said you had been awake for a good thirty-six hours. By that time, you were already running on back-up batteries. I'm surprised you hadn't gone to sleep sooner than that." Max said. She stretched like a cat then settled back on her haunches; mismatched eyes fixed upon the cyboid.

"Thirty-six hours, is that all? I thought I had been awake longer than that." Digit said.

"Doesn't seem like much, does it?" Max said, nodding in agreement.

"No."

Silence.

Cyboid and cyborg-gargoyle stared at each other as though uncertain what to say next. Digit wished he didn't _have_ to leave. He didn't get to spend much time with Max anymore. Now that she was on the run from Hacker, she didn't have enough time to sit and chat. Nor could she stay on a public site for too long either.

"I didn't mean to wake you." Digit finally said.

Max shrugged as though it didn't matter. "I'm a light sleeper. I needed to get up anyway." She said.

"Since when are you a light sleeper? It used to take forever for me to wake you up in the morning." He pointed out.

Max glared at him. "I've always been a light sleeper. I was just ignoring you. Unfortunately, I didn't figure you being so bloody persistent."

"Sure. I bet that's what it was." Digit said, in a teasing voice.

Max's lips curled over her fangs in a growl as she lowered her head in a threatening manner. Digit playfully slapped her muzzle with a wing. Max laughed and Digit laughed with her. While Max could be big and scary when she wanted to be, Digit had known Max long enough to know she would never purposely hurt him.

Digit rubbed Max on her pink snout, his laughter died out and his face turned sad. "I wish we saw more of each other, Max." He said.

Max's tongue found the tip of Digit's beak. "So do I, Didge. So do I."

"Promise me you'll come visit Control Central more often." Digit said.

Max let silence stretch between them a moment and Digit knew her answer would be no.

"When this is all over, I'll be able to stay in Control Central with you and Dad and Motherboard." She finally said. "We'll be a family again, Didge. But now is not the time."

"When will the time be?" Digit asked.

"When you-know-who is dead and his evil destroyed. Also, I need to get my cyborg body back." Max said.

"Why? You look pretty good as a gargoyle to me, Max." Digit said. Max stretched out, again, and Digit rested on her paws.

"It's not the same, Didge." Max told him.

"You mean about being a social outcast now?" Digit asked.

Max nodded, gravely. "Yeah."

"I see." Digit said.

Again, silence. Then,

"It's not that I don't enjoy being a gargoyle it's just . . . it feels weird waking up in the morning and listening to a heartbeat instead of the familiar hum of my inner-circuits. I have veins and arteries and blood, not canals and tubes and oil. And when I look at myself in the mirror, I expect to see a kid with messy brown hair. What I see is a monster with half a face and two robotic body parts." Said Max.

"Well, what _do_ you like about it?" Asked Digit.

"I like the speed. The freedom to fly wherever I want -"

Digit glanced up at Max's immobilized wings still strapped to her sides and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"- when I can fly." She added when she caught her friend's meaning.

Digit nodded in understanding.

"I like being bigger than most people. And I like that you-know-who is now afraid of me." Max said.

"See, there is a bright side to this after all." Digit said.

"I suppose you could call it a bright side." Max admitted.

"Well, aside from all that other stuff you need to do beforehand, you do know you can come back to Control Central at anytime, right?" Digit said.

Max nodded. "Yeah. Motherboard said I can come see you guys at anytime. But, I'd rather not drag you guys into something I'm supposed to do."

"When it's all be said and done, you'll come back, huh?" Digit asked.

Max nodded. Then, broke out into song.

"When it's all been said and done.

There is just one thing that matters.

Did I do my best to live for truth?

Did I live my life for you?

"When it's all been said and done.

All my treasures will mean nothing.

Only what I've done

For love's reward

Will stand the test of time."1

Digit wasn't exactly sure what to make of this. He had heard Max sing the song before, she used to sing a lot in her cyborg days. Now that she was a gargoyle searching to end the existence of an evil borg – and possibly her own existence – the words struck Digit as strange. Almost like Max was accepting the fact she may or may not survive the fight that was to come. Digit felt his coolant freeze.

"Max, promise me you'll beat him. Promise me you'll beat him fast and soon." Digit said.

Max swallowed. "I promise, Didge."

For some reason, Digit didn't believe her.

1

When Digit departed from Shangri-La, Max headed down to the reflection pond. Master Pi was already there waiting for her. Max had already discussed having a dream fasting with him earlier and Master Pi agreed it would be a good idea. Warriors were known for taking dream fasts at least a couple of times in their existence, as it was used as a means of finding ones-self. Max had done the dream fast once so she knew what was to be expected. But she hadn't done it since her scuffle with the Magnetite and she wondered how different it would be.

Master Pi held up a clay goblet. The goblet contained the potion necessary for dream fasting. Max had no idea what the potion was made from since only Master Pi made it and he wouldn't pass it on to anyone unless he was coming to the end of his existence.

"Drink." Master Pi told her, tilting the goblet in Max's direction.

Max lapped up the potion, holding back a grimace of disgust – the stuff was nasty! - until it was gone. Immediately, she felt sleepy and her head fell to her chest.

Master Pi watched the cyborg-gargoyle for a moment before drifting away. Max would dream fast for a few hours, now. It was considered rude for anyone to accompany them while they fasted.

0

_Max felt like she was falling into a pool of water – or rather, molasses. It was a familiar feeling, one that previous fasters used to speak of whenever Max asked them before she started her own fasting. But it was still a bizarre feeling nonetheless._

_Once the falling stopped, Max looked around. She was fronted by a mirror which contained a still of a part of her life. She eyeballed the mirror before touching it with a claw. Immediately, the mirror parted like liquid and Max stepped through._

_The scene unfolded before her:_

_She was in a semi-dark room in Control Central. It took Max a minute to realize it was her father's workroom, a place of solace for him where he could plan out and work on his inventions in peace. The blocky communications unit mounted on the wall being the only connection between the workroom and Motherboard's control deck._

_Dr. Marbles sat on his stool at his bench with a halogen light glowing above his head. An array of tools lined the wall and jewelers tools sat in their box at the back of the bench. Max saw a pair of bare feet on the bench and she moved off to the side to see better. She wasn't worried about Marbles seeing her. These were her memories, everything happened just as it was supposed to and to this memory-Marbles, she didn't exist yet._

_Max's eyes went to the body on the bench. It was a miniature version of her just before she was brought to life. She watched her father screw one last wire into place on her chest, insert a memory chip into her skull, then step back. Memory-Max opened her eyes, looked at memory-Marbles and smile._

"_Dada!" She said, arms reaching out to him with fingers making grabby gestures._

_Marbles smiled with relief and picked her up. Her toddler-sized body fitting neatly in his arms. "My name is Dr. Marbles. But you can call me Dada or dad or whatever you like."_

_He hugged her, then set her back on the bench while he sat on the stool and rubbed his chin in thought. "Now, what shall I call you?"_

_Marbles tried a few variations, voicing them outloud. Then, he smiled and said, "I'll call you Maxanne Marbles. Max for short. What do you think of that, Max?"_

_Max smiled. "I like it, Daddy." She said._

"_Good." Marbles said._

_He picked her up again and carried her out of the room. He took her from room to room, showing her everything Control Central had to offer. Then, he introduced her to Motherboard who smiled warmly at her._

"_Very good, Marbles." Motherboard said. "You have made a very beautiful child."_

_Marbles blushed. "Thank you, Motherboard." He said. "But she is more than just a child to me. She is to be my daughter. Do you know what the first word she said was?"_

_Motherboard's holographic head shook back and forth._

"_She called me dada." He said, proudly._

"_I am glad." Motherboard said. "I am glad she has fully accepted you as her father and not as her creator."_

"_So am I, Motherboard. So am I."_

_The scene quickly fast-forward from there. Max watched herself grow up. She watched herself sleep and heard Motherboard tell her stories about the Shield-maidens of Shangri-La and sing her to sleep. She saw herself assist Marbles with Motherboard's repairs. She saw herself head off to Shangri-La to begin her training. She saw herself leave Shangri-La for home. And she saw Hacker for the first time._

_The times before meeting Hacker was relatively pleasant. Her father at least had time for her. Now, that Hacker had come online, Marbles had little time for Max. He and Hacker were constantly busy keeping Motherboard up and running. Max wasn't jealous, she understood their time together was essential for keeping Motherboard healthy. But did Marbles really have to ignore her?_

Maybe I am jealous._ Max thought, watching her younger self sitting forlornly in a corner, pretending to polish her nunchuks while she watched her "brother". _

_She never called him brother, not to mention she never felt the need to call him brother. Marbles had introduced him as his assistant, not his son. His relationship with Hacker wasn't like his relationship with her. At least when he introduced Max to people, he always said "This is my daughter, Max." When he introduced Hacker, he always said "This is my assistant, Hacker." He had used the same lines when he introduced Hacker to Max, so Max could only assume Hacker was not meant to be part of the family._

_She never liked Hacker, that much was obvious. Hacker took her father away from her. Not to mention, there was something dark and unpleasant about him. Something evil._

_Max used to warn her father about Hacker. There had been a few instances where she caught Hacker in her room and something went missing. Marbles had talked to Hacker about it. Of course, Hacker always had an excuse ready on hand._

"_I was just looking at this shield. I found it so fascinating, I wanted to analyze it." He said._

"_Next time, Hacker, please ask Max before you take anything." Marbles said, taking the shield from him and passing it back to Max._

"_Of course." Hacker said with a slick grin._

_Max hated that grin. It was a smile that blended oddly with his sickly-green skin. And his eyes never reflected the friendliness his smile tried to convey. His eyes were dark, like a train-less tunnel. Covetous, tricky, false. She could come up with quite a few adjectives to describe how she felt about him._

_Max had tried telling her father how she felt about Hacker, but Marbles wouldn't listen to her._

"_Max, I know I have not been spending much time with you lately. But you know how important my work is. You were not here when I needed you so I made an assistant." Marbles hugged his kid firmly but gently to him. "I know you do not like him, Max, but he is my assistant. So, try to be nice to him, okay."_

_Max agreed to _ try _to be nice to him. Hacker was nice to her, too . . . in public. But neither one liked the other. That much was obvious. Max tried very hard to hide her contempt for Hacker. But Marbles could still tell Max hated his assistant._

_Max remembered meeting Digit for the first time and disliking him for being created by Hacker. However, wherever Max went, Digit followed. Max eventually got used to his company. Then she started to like him. He was pleasant to have around. Soon the two became fast friends, inseparable as they come._

_Then, Max remembered Hacker's betrayal. She remembered Digit shaking her out of sleep-mode. His face looked worried._

"_Digit? Digit, what is it?" Max asked, stretching and yawning._

"_It's Hacker. He's in the control center working on Motherboard right now." Digit said._

"_So?" Max said. She didn't understand the difference right away._

"_So! Instead of putting something in, he's taking something out." Digit said._

"_Like what? He works maintenance, Digit. It's his job to take something out." Max told him._

"_Uh, call me ignorant, but I don't think an encryptor chip is supposed to be removed." Digit said._

"_WHAT! He's taking out Motherboard's encryptor chip! Why didn't you just say so?"_

"_I thought you would get my clues! You're supposed to be smart, you know." Digit said._

"_Never mind." Max growled. "Just get Dad. Tell him to come up to the control center right away. I'm going to prove Hacker was bad news from the very beginning."_

_Digit saw the look in Max's eyes and knew better than to argue. He powered up his propellor and took off toward Marbles' room._

_Max slipped into her gi, tied on her belt, and stuffed her nunchuks into her belt. As a second thought, Max grabbed her sparring staff off their brackets on the wall. Then ran out of her room, down the hall, took the elevator to the top floor, and rushed onto the control floor. She saw Hacker, with the encryptor chip in hand, slip out from under the terminal, carry the chip to a large safe and drop it in._

_Max rushed in with a yell and knocked Hacker's legs out from underneath him. Hacker yelped in surprise as he fell to the floor. Max quickly sat on him and pointed the edge of her sparring staff at his neck._

"_I wouldn't move if I were you." Max warned._

_Hacker grinned at her. "Why Max, what are you doing here?"_

"_Stopping you from making a huge mistake. I knew you were bad from the moment I met you. I tried telling Dad but you somehow managed to slip out of everything. You somehow managed to evade my accusations. But now I've caught you and you won't get away this time."_

"_Is that what this is all about? You think I'm evil, huh?"_

"_I don't think you're evil, I know you're evil. I just saw you try to unplug Motherboard."_

"_What? That? I was merely analyzing the encryptor chip, that's all."_

"_By putting it in a safe?"_

"_That's not a safe. It's an analyzer."_

"_It looks like a safe to me."_

"_Well, it's not a safe."_

"_Still looks like one. Has a few combinations on it. No viewer. It's a safe."_

"_Is not."_

"_Is to."_

"_Is not."_

"_Is to."_

"_It is a safe." Marbles said as he strode into the room._

_Digit cracked the code, opened the safe, dropped the encryptor chip into Marbles' hand, and watched him reinstall it._

"_Because of your actions, Hacker, you are no longer welcome here." Motherboard said._

_Max watched as Marbles drained Hacker's power grid and sent him on his way. Memory-Max quivered with excitement, not daring to even say "I told you so" to her father who was already kicking himself for not listening to his daughter._

_Max watched as Hacker snuck into her room while she was still in sleep-mode, rolled her into a bag, and ran off with her – Max had always wondered how he kidnapped her and now she knew, he had stolen someone's cyberscooter to do the deed._

_Max watched as Hacker flogged her with her own sparring staff then used Magnetite on her. She watched as her body changed from all mechanical to all organic. She writhed on the floor as her circuits and other robotic devices twisted into organic organs. Max remembered the process as being more painful anything else. Max watched as Hacker jabbed at her with a high-voltage cattle prod; demanding that she submit to his will. Max stubbornly told him to boil his head._

_Max remembered helping Digit save a Cybersite from darkness. Then, throwing him out of the Grimm Wreaker when Hacker realized what the two of them had done. Max remembered launching herself out of the open door, wings spread to catch herself and float away – there hadn't been enough room for the required ten-strides so she was relying on gravity to keep her way._

_Max remembered hearing two shots coming from the Grimm Wreaker. She felt something warm and wet hit her on the leg and arm. Then, she screamed as the dematerializing agent ate through her skin; turning everything it touched to ones and zeros. A little had splashed on her face and the agent ate away at her eye._

_Max remembered flying to Shangri-La, crashing just outside the gates. She remembered Master Pi and the warriors taking her in and taking care of her. She remembered them calling her father and Ada Lovelace. She remembered seeing the places where her limbs had been before, the stress of laying still while Ada measured and Marbles taking notes. She remembered the tedious hours of fittings and the stress of trying out new parts. She remembered the pain of having everything fixed to her body with a soldering iron and the jolt of having her ruined nerves connected to the prosthetic parts._

_She remembered watching Marbles and Ada leave Shangri-La only to find her again on Cybersite Mobeus. She watched the two borgs approach, face expressionless._

"_Why Ada . . . Matthias. Did you forget something?" She asked._

"_I require something of you. Please respond truthfully." Marbles said._

_The gargoyle sat on her haunches. "Okay. Ask away."_

"_What is your name?"_

_She gave him a cocky grin. "So, figured it out now, have you? I wondered when this was going to come up and I'm surprised it hadn't come up sooner. I gave you all the clues to my identity and yet Master Pi figured it out before you did. It's about bloody time you figured it out though. You were supposed to be a genius." She said._

"_You haven't answered my inquiry." Marbles pointed out._

"_Do I really need to? If you have any questions about my identity, ask me a question you wouldn't think I would know."_

_Marbles asked her to name all twenty Shangri-La Warriors, which she did, thus proving her identity as Marbles' daughter. The three hugged one another. Then, Marbles took a step back._

"_Max." He said._

_Max looked at her father who now stood with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. "You heard what Master Pi wanted me to do, didn't you?" She asked.  
><em>

_Marbles nodded. "Affirmative. I can't say I approve." He told her._

"_I didn't expect you to, actually." Max said._

"_Max, I don't like the idea of you being out there trying to destroy somebody. Even if it isn't a good person." Marbles said._

"_I know." She nudged him with her muzzle and he leaned into her. "I take no joy in doing what he wants me to do. But it must be done."_

"_Negative, Max. It doesn't need to be done. You could let it go. Just, let it go."_

_Max pulled away from him. "Yeah, it does, Dad."_

"_Max! Just let it go!" Marbles told her._

_Max rubbed her muzzle against him. She loved how much he cared about her, but she couldn't let it go. He had done too much damage to her . . . He had caused her too much pain._

"_I'm sorry, Dad. I can't let it go. I'm sorry."_

"_Max . . . I can understand why you feel you need to do this. But I can't condone what you're planning to do." Marbles said. "I forbid you from carrying out this terrible thing." _

_He folded his hands behind his back, officiously. Max hated seeing him like this and as much as she respected him, she felt she had to remind him of his position over her before things got out of hand._

"_It's not really up to you right now, Dad. Nor is it up to me."_

_She explained how Master Pi figured out it was her and how he decided it was up to her to put an end to Hacker's evil. Marbles hung his head and Max approached him._

"_Dad, please know I love and respect you. I take no joy in knowing I am to take the life of another borg but it must be done. If he can discipline me without a second thought and turn me into a beast using Magnetite, then consider what he can do to another borg. Consider what he can do to you. That's why I have to do it. I have the means and the tools necessary to do this job. I don't do this out of disrespect for you, but for the safety of Cyberspace. That much has and always will be of great importance to me."_

"_As long as you promise me one thing." Marbles said._

"_What's that?"_

"_That once you destroy him, your desire to destroy will end there."_

"_Come on, Dad, I'm not a mindless killing machine. I might be a gargoyle now but that doesn't mean I lost all the borg stuff either."_

"_Promise me!"_

_Max stared at him long and hard. "I promise."_

_Marbles looked at the bright, pink eye locked in on his golden-brown eyes, and he knew he could not sway her from her mission. Although he didn't like the idea of Max turning into an assassin, he nodded. "Okay, Max. I understand. Please, be careful."_

"_I will." Max said._

_Max relived everything after that. The hours spent looking for a new home only to be sheltered by a cyborg teen. She remembered meeting the Cybersquad and helping them on a few of their adventures. Then, when everything came back to present day, Max was ready to awaken._

_But she didn't know she was waking up to a nightmare._

1

While Max was reliving her memories in a dream fast, Digit was heading straight for Control Central. He had tried contacting Motherboard a few times but she never answered. He had hoped Motherboard would send him a portal so he didn't have to fly the distance. Unfortunately, nothing ever usually works out for the cyboid.

It took him only a few hours to get to Control Central. Right away, he knew something wasn't right. It was barely even eleven o'clock and Motherboard would still be awake, running systems checks on herself. The lights should still be on but they weren't.

Digit knew he should turn around and go back to find Max or Marbles. But he didn't think that was necessary. What if he dragged them away from something important only to have it be something out of his own imagination?

"Come on, Didge. You're no coward. Check it out." Digit told himself.

"I will." He responded back.

He fluttered to the docking bay and let himself in using the keycard Marbles had given him a while back. The bay doors hissed open and Digit propelled himself up the nearest shoot to Motherboard's control center.

At first, he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. But then, Motherboard's holographic image caught his eye. Her face was green and so was the background. Motherboard glared down at him with what could only be described as hate.

Digit recognized it right away as the Mean Green. Hacker had once had his girlfriend, the Wicked Witch, cast a spell on Motherboard to make everyone mean and green. The end result had made Motherboard act strangely. But, this time, it was like she was fairly normal with the exception of the look of disgust she showed for her friend.

"Motherboard? What's going on?" Digit asked.

"What do you mean, what's going on? I've just taken over Cyberspace." Hacker said from the doorway.

"Yoinks!" Digit said in surprise as Buzz and Delete fell upon him and dragged the hapless cyboid to a cage.

Hacker strode, purposefully, to the cage and leered in at his prisoner. "Motherboard was left unguarded while you and your silly earth-brats and that fool Dr. Marbles were playing doctor with that idiotic reptile."

"Max is my friend!" Digit said.

"Don't I know it." Hacker said. "Now, you're going to tell me where Max and Marbles are, right now."

* * *

><p>1"When It's All Been Said and Done" by Don Moen; First two verses<p>


	8. Change of Heart

__Sorry about the length of this one. I love the conversation between slider and max in this one. i also liked the thrill of the chase in this one too. i have to admit, i was a little worried the part about max threatening slider might have been a little dark but i've been assured it wasn't. it kind of added emphasis to the stress max was feeling after flying around for so long.  
><em>_

_I don't own Cyberchase_._ Max is mine. The idea for reprogramming Digit isn't mine either. That came from _We Are One__ by Kawaii Stella and Akari Hinomoto. I just liked the idea of reprogramming Digit as another way of provoking Max.___  
><em>

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight<br>A Change of Heart

Hacker stared down at the Cyboid he had created eons ago. After much thinking, Hacker decided he should reprogram Digit. Digit was _his_ creation, after all, and he had every right to do what he liked with the despicable bird.

Hacker didn't give Digit a choice. He had Buzz and Delete bring the Cyboid to him using any means necessary. The dragged Digit to Marbles' workshop where Hacker had stationed himself and Hacker quickly flipped Digit's power switch to off, rendering him unconscious.

"Thank you, boys. Now, wait outside until further orders." Hacker told Buzz and Delete.

The two robots saluted and marched off to do as they were instructed. Hacker didn't trust them to remain in the workshop with him. There were too many things for the two, bumbling robots to get into.

Hacker opened Digit using Marbles' screwdrivers, removed Digit's HDD – Hard Disk Drive – and ran it under a modified version of the Sqwackpad. After a few keystrokes on a computer, Hacker changed Digit completely from the bumbling, useless Cyboid everyone loved, to a sinister person nobody could possibly care about.

"Your orders, boss?" Digit asked.

"I need you to do a couple of things for me." He said.

0

Matt awoke to a loud beeping sound coming from the side pocket of his backpack. He rose, groggily from bed and slugged to the desk where he had deposited the pack. He pushed a button and received Digit's familiar face on the screen.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Matty. It's Digit. Hacker's up to his usual tricks again. I'm sending a portal right now." His Cyboid friend said.

"Okay. Give me a few minutes to get ready." Matt said with a yawn.

"Okay." Digit said.

Matt got dressed. No sooner had he slipped on his shoes and drew his arms through the straps of his backpack than a portal swirled to life in his room. Without hesitation, Matt jumped in feet first. He tumbled head over heels before being dumped on the hard floor of a cage. Looking around, Matt saw that his two friends, Inez and Jackie, were already there with him.

Digit stood outside the cage and leered in at them. The expression was strange to see on his face, to say the least.

"Hah! I knew you would fall for that Hacker's-causing-havoc trick. That's why I used it." He said.

"What's going on? Why are you acting like that?" Matt asked.

"Because I'm on Hacker's side now." Digit said. He turned away and sauntered of.

"I think Hacker's reprogrammed him." Inez said. She looked sad. Not that Matt could blame her. Digit ha been their friend since they were dumped on the floor of Control Central for their first adventure.

"How did this happen, anyway?" Jackie said. "We just left Cyberspace a few hours ago. It's like he was waiting for us to leave before he struck."

"That's probably what he did." Matt said. "I wouldn't put it past him."

"I just wonder what's going to happen to Max and Dr. Marbles now." Inez said.

Matt scooted close to her and put an arm around her shoulders. Inez leaned into him, her face to his shoulder.

"We can only hope things will turn out okay." He said.

1

_Something doesn't feel right._ Max thought as her consciousness surfaced from the dream world she had just finished exploring. Her ears rotated on their points, giving her the ability to hear in two different directions at once.

Returning from a dream fast was a disorienting experience. The faster was always drifting between dreams and reality; walking the precariously thin line, the danger of falling quickly back into wake or sleep fully presenting itself.

The first thing that returned to Max was her acute senses of hearing and touch. With that touch came a sixth sense – an ominous feeling that tickled up her spine and caused her to shudder. The second thing that returned was her sight and smell. And she didn't like anything that touched those senses.

Shangri-La was quiet. Too quiet. For the past several eons, Shangri-La had been voted as the quietest site in all of Cyberspace. It wasn't voted as the best vacationing spot, though, but the site was still the most predictable. Everyone who came here could expect to hear a pin drop from a mile away. The warriors were silent because none, except for Red and Master Pi, spoke. The warriors spent most of their time in mediation, training in the fields, practicing Northern Shaolin in the hills behind the Good Vibration, eating, mediating, doing meager chores about the temples, and sleeping. Every day was planned out in advance and everyday was scheduled exactly the same. Even new trainees would not hinder the already-made plans of the day. Healing was considered a chore and, thus, even Max showing up injured and half-dead outside their gates did not put a damper in their schedule.

Although Max knew Shangri-La was quiet, she knew it wasn't this quiet. This was an eerie silence. The silence before the fall. The fall being something disastrous about to happen.

Max growled; hackles bristling. Her mismatched eyes darted from side-to-side. The first thing that Max noticed was the sky. Normally it was a bright blue with nary a cloud anywhere to be seen. What Max saw was an angry red with thick, black clouds swirling overhead. Along with those clouds, Max saw the Good Vibration – the source of all kindness and harmony on Shangri-La – was gone from its place. The mountains were crumbling. The waterfall had lost its voice and the river beneath the bridge no longer burbled.

Max looked over the edge of the bridge and saw the gold and black fish were now floating belly-up in the river. Max sighed and her claws clenched, digging into the bridge. Max looked down, surprised by how easily she was able to scratch the gold. Much to her surprise, the bridge had turned green and brown with oxidation and rust.

_Rust? That's not possible, real gold doesn't rust. What the hell is going on here?_

Max got up and wandered about the site. What she saw caused her to worry. She didn't like Shangri-La's new appearance. She didn't like how it seemed to be crumbling. And she didn't like how she wasn't able to find any warriors anywhere. Max needed answers and she needed to find them soon.

"Max."

The cyborg-gargoyle turned to see the Red Warrior standing behind her. His face serious. Max faced him.

"Red? What the hell is going on? Where's the Good Vibration? Why is the sky so dark?" She asked him.

Red blatantly ignored Max's questions. "Max, you must come with us, please." He told her.

"Why? What's going on? Where are we going?" She asked.

"Come with us, please." Red repeated.

Max didn't like how he was avoiding her questions. Red _never_ avoided her questions. Her ears flattened against her skull.

"Okay Red. I'll come with you. But first, please answer my questions." She said.

"Please, Max. No more questions. Come with me and everything will be explained." Red told her.

Red also never seemed to get annoyed. This time he _was_ getting annoyed.

"Not until you answer me. What's going on?" She said.

Master Pi appeared beside Red. He wasn't levitating like he usually was.

"Max." Master Pi said.

"Master? What's going on here? The sky is dark, the Good Vibration is gone, the waterfall has grown quiet, and the fish are dead. I don't get it." Max said.

"Come with us, Max. We'll explain everything." Master Pi said.

That was the second time Master Pi called her Max. He hardly ever called her by her name, preferring to call her "little one" even though she wasn't so little anymore.

"Master, is there something wrong?" Max said.

"Max, please. No more questions. Come with us." Master Pi said.

_Okay, make that three times he's called me by my name. I don't like this. I don't like this at all._

Out of the corner of her eye, Max saw the warriors creeping up the hill. Each of them carried a noose loosely in both hands. Max had seen that stance before. She had learned it, too. It was the warrior's way of sneaking up on an enemy or target. And Max knew what happened to enemies of Shangri-La.

Max's ears flattened completely on her skull. "I don't think so." She said.

With a snarl, she bulled through her former teachers; knocking them down. She ran in a zig-zag pattern, avoiding ropes as she went. Then, she mounted the wall and scaled all the way up to the top where she plopped her butt down and glowered at her fellow warriors.

"Why are you attacking me? I am not your enemy!" Max demanded.

"Maxanne Marbles" - _Not good._ Master Pi never used Max's full name either - "You are charged with premeditated murder. Our orders are to arrest and hold you until the Leader of Cyberspace can decide what to do with you."

"What? _You_ gave me that mission!" Max said.

"I know. And I was wrong to do so." Master Pi admitted.

"On whose orders are you to detain me?" Max asked.

"The Leader of Cyberspace, of course." Master Pi announced.

"Motherboard would never order my arrest."

"It wasn't Motherboard."

"Who then?"

"The Hacker."

Max's blood rain cold and goosebumps pushed on her scales. _He's the Leader of C'yberspace now? When the hell did that happen? Why did it happen? Where's Motherboard?_

"Max. Do not resist. Lord Hacker said the charges would be minor if you came with us, quietly." Master Pi said.

"Well, you know me. I don't come quietly. I've never been quiet. Nor will I allow myself to be detained." Max said. "You taught me, never let yourself be captured. Well, that's what I intend to do. Have fun trying to catch me."

"Max. Be reasonable. We don't want to hurt you."

"I am being reasonable. I know for a fact you can't trust _his_ word. He'll say one thing and mean another. It's always been his way. You know it and I know it. He's known for it. You can't trust him."

"It used to be we could not trust gargoyles either. Yet, here you are."

"I'm not really a gargoyle."

"You certainly are now."

Master Pi made a gesture toward Max and the lassos were thrown. Max managed to duck past the nooses coming her way. Then, she jumped off the wall and ran the length of the plain. The wind whistling past her ears and through her horns and mane barely hid the sound of the gates opening. Max knew the warriors were chasing her. But few were fast enough to match a gargoyle's stride.

She counted each stride. At number six, she extended her wings; breaking the three strips of tape holding them to her sides. At number eight, she started pumping. At number ten, she kicked off the ground and flew away.

Flying was a painful and dangerous task for Max at the moment. The fractures in her wings had barely healed and air leaked through the holes in her wings. With each wing-stroke, the ridges shrieked with protest. Max gritted her teeth against the pain. She knew she couldn't fly long but she had to try. Everywhere she went, she saw only darkness. Hacker's fingerprints no doubt.

She flew around for a while. Occasionally, stopping to rest. But she couldn't stay long. It felt like she had just touched down when a lynch mob rose out of the woodwork; armed with pitchforks, hoes, torches, and ropes. Max had to take off again.

Tired of flying and in pain from the fractured joints, Max landed on the outskirts of Radopolis and dug herself out a tunnel in Point Dune. There, she curled up and started to rest.

Just then, footsteps brought her head up and her lips curled over her teeth. Max waited until a figure unknowingly passed her dune before diving out and knocking him flat. It was Slider. But Max didn't care at that point. After a few encounters with lynching mobs on every Site she had landed on so far, Max couldn't trust anyone.

"What the -" Slider began, but Max hauled him up by his hoodie and slapped a paw to his mouth.

"Scream and I _will_ shut you off." She warned.

Slider stopped squirming, but his breath was still rapid against her pads.

"Now, are you still loyal to Motherboard? Nod once for yes, twice for no." Max growled.

Slider nodded once. Max knew he wasn't stupid enough to lie to her so she let him go and shoved him into a seated position by her dune. Slider stared up at her.

"Dang, Max. You look like hell." Slider observed.

"You didn't see the broadcast, did you?" Max asked.

"You mean the one where you-know-who was flaunting his capture of you on Cyberwide tv?"

"That's the one."

"I heard about it but I didn't see it. I was out boarding and completely missed it. I heard it was a doozey though."

"If you were getting electrocuted with 360 volts of electricity, you wouldn't call it a doozey."

"Yeah. I'm sure I wouldn't."

"It wasn't a doozey on my end."

"I'm sure it wasn't."

"It wasn't."

Slider noticed the trailing ends of the surgical tape still attached to Max's scales.

"Run into trouble?" he asked.

Max looked over her shoulder to see what Slider was looking at. "A little. I just came out of a dream fast when the warriors on Shangri-La attacked me. I didn't wait around to see what they would do to me." Max said.

"How'd you know they were going to attack?" Slider asked.

"They were carrying nooses." Max told him.

"Oh."

The two stared at each other.

"Well, are you okay?"

"Aside from nearly being lassoed by warriors who don't miss, I also had to avoid pitchforks, hoes, spears, and torches, I'm fine."

"Ouch." Slider said with a shudder. "I heard King Dudicus telling everyone to be on the look out for a disfigured albino gargoyle."

"I'm sure he did."

Max tensed as Slider got up and walked around to see the tape better. She gave him a warning growl and Slider just stared at her.

"I'm just going to take the tape off, that's all." He said.

"Just so long as that's _all_ you're going to do." Max said.

For an answer, Slider grabbed the tape and ripped it off her scales. Max gritted her teeth to keep from roaring. When Slider finished, he touched Max's wings, noting the holes that had been cut in the membrane.

There were nine holes in each wing. Each hole was perfectly aligned within six-inches away from the ridge and spanned the entire length of the wings themselves. In a couple of places, the membrane was torn so the holes were joined. To Slider the holes looked like they had been cut using a butcher's knife. To Max, they just plain hurt.

"What happened here?" He asked. "Did the warriors get you?"

"Remember what I said about the broadcast?" Max said.

"Yeah."

"You-know-who threaded chains through my wings to keep me from flying away. I don't actually know how he made those holes, but they're sore."

"They look sore. They look like they hurt."

"Appearances can be deceiving. In this case, they're not."

"How did you manage to fly in a condition like this?"

"It didn't come without complications." Max said with a shrug.

Slider ran a hand over the ridge and Max nearly tore his hand off when his fingers found the fractures.

"Watch it!"

"What's wrong with this ridge?"

"Hairline fractures in _both_ wings. That happened when I tried to fly away from the electricity." Max explained.

Slider shook his head. "I'm not sure how you did it, Max, but you're one tough cookie. I'm surprised you were able to fly at all. Hairline fractures and holes in the membrane. How'd you manage it?"

"You'll be surprised what a gargoyle can manage when its life was on the line."

"I bet. You-know-who knew what he was doing when he kidnapped you, didn't he?"

"He's done this kind of thing before. Except, last time he encased my wings in boots. This time he kept me pretty well sedated."

"Yuck."

"Yeah. Yuck."

Slider examined the holes again. "You know, I think I can rig something up. Maybe a couple of braces for the ridges."

"Okay. I'd be willing to try that."

"I could probably solder these holes shut too."

"No, dude. Don't use a soldering iron. The last time you did that, I almost ate your hand."

"Sorry Max. You won't be able to fly properly without getting your wings fixed. I'll be quick about it, I promise. And, you can chew on my pillow if you need to."

"Oh, I'll need to."

"Fine. Come with me."

Max followed Slider into the town. The two of them kept to the shadows and Max was fairly light-footed for someone her size. Finally, when they got into Slider's garage, Max stretched out on the floor and extended her wings which Slider braced against his workbench and carefully weighed one down. He made a few measurements, then encased Max's ridge in a few pieces of steel; leaving the joints untouched for better flexibility. Max endured the procedure, patiently.

"Any idea how you-know-who got in complete control of Cyberspace?" Max asked Slider while the young borg located his soldering iron and dropped his pillow on the floor in front of Max. Max stared at it, disgusted by the stains where Slider put his head at night; not sure whether to chew on it or throw it away.

"No clue." Slider said, pulling Max's mind out of the gutter. "Just, all of a sudden, the sky went dark and everyone started acting nuts."

"The sky was dark at Shangri-La, too." Max said.

"The sky is dark everywhere." Slider told her, plugging the iron in.

"I wonder what would have happened if Dad or Digit had been there instead of with me at Shangri-La. Do you suppose they could've stopped him from taking over?"

"Don't know. Maybe it was your dad who helped you-know-who get into the system."

Max glared at him so venomously, that Slider had to back up a few paces, out of range of her tail barb. Slider was no coward, but he knew how dangerous gargoyles could be when angered.

"I oughta slug you." She said.

"Borgs are known for changing sides."1 Slider said with a shrug.

"Not my dad. Dad would never betray Motherboard."

"Your dad was the one who made that monster."

"Yeah, and he beats himself up over it too. You think he enjoys living out his warranty knowing he created the very monster that did this to me? What about everything he's done to your father? Dad feels responsible for that, too."

Slider's jaw tightened. "Don't ever bring that up again." He said.

Slider's father vanished when Slider was a little boy. There was no word as to why Coop made his decision only that he up and left without telling his son where he was going. Marbles, feeling sad for the youth, took Sly in and treated him like son. Most Cyber-citizens just assumed it was done out of the goodness of Marbles' heart. Max and Slider knew it was because Marbles and Coop were made by the same borg, making Max and Slider cousins. Of course, Max's relationship with Slider was not well-known and for good reason.

Coop and Marbles were manufactured by the same borg, but both were made for completely different purposes. Both were smart, but Marbles was a genius. Marbles invented top of the line Cybercoops, built and programmed most of the computer consoles, invented the Sqwackpads and many more. Coop acted like a mechanic on some of the things Marbles made. Like most brothers, Coop and Marbles had a falling out and the two hadn't spoken for a few eons. It was suspected Coop was tired of living under his older brother's shadow. Then, a couple eons before Coop's disappearance, the brothers started speaking again. Mostly because neither brother didn't want their kids to hate each other. This also happened to be the same year Marbles made Hacker. A few months later, Hacker went bad and the two brothers made promises toward each other. They promised the other they would take care of each other's kid if something bad were to happen to the other. Marbles kept that promise when Coop vanished.

Word on the street concerning Coop's disappearance was that Coop owed Hacker something and was looking for a way to pay him off. Other stories said Hacker had caught up with Coop and threw him in the nearest black hole. For Slider's sake, Max could only hope the first was true.

"Then don't tell me my dad betrayed Motherboard. It won't ever happen. Not in this age or in the age to come."

"It's possible."

Max growled. "Say that again and you will be using that iron to repair your face."

Slider took a couple more steps back. Max didn't believe in making empty threats. Nor did she believe in making threats unless she could back them up.

"Alright, I'm sorry." He said.

They were quiet while they waited for the iron to heat. When it had reached maximum heating potential, Slider flattened Max's wing down with his hand and touched it to a hole. Max snatched up the pillow in her teeth and ground her fangs into it; desperately trying not to scream.

When Slider was done, he returned his iron to its box and checked out his handiwork. The holes had sealed over and the ridges were contained in tight, metal braces. Slider had cut the braces out of steel using tin snips and flexed them over a rod that was the exact length and diameter as Max's wing-ridges. Then, after rubbing water-soluble glue down the ridges, Slider slipped the metal braces over the ridge and pinched them tight with a few clamps.

Max tested out the braces and nodded her approval.

"Crude, but it will do." She said.

"Thanks." Slider said, washing his hands at his sink. "Anything else you need?"

"Now that you mention it . . ." Max began.

"Oh circuits! I hate when you say that. Usually means you're going to have me do something I'd hate." Slider said.

"You mean you enjoyed smearing my wings with glue, sealing the holes with a soldering iron, and encasing the ridges with metal?" Max asked.

"Just plying my trade." He said, simply.

"Well your trade stinks." She glowered at him. "You didn't have to help me, you know. You could've turned me over to King Dudicus."

"We're family, Max. I couldn't do that to you even if I wanted to."

"Whatever."

"Well, what is it you wanted?"

Max grinned. "I need someone as back-up while I hack into Motherboard's terminal at Control Central. I'm going to call you-know-who out. I just need you to watch my back. Make sure he doesn't perform a back-trace on me."

Slider grinned at her in return. "I actually like that idea. Let's do it."

* * *

><p>1"Borgs are known for changing sides." - Slider, Cyberchase episode Snelfu Snafu part 1, 309<p>


	9. Family Feud

__Dundunduuuuuun! A plot twist toward the end. i hope you like it. this one was a little long. seems the closer to the end of the story i get the longer the chapter. i just can't seem to stop. okay, i'll stop doing intros now. um, i liked max's conversation with hacker back at control central. okay, now i'm definitely going to stop doing intros.  
><em>_

__I made a few changes to this chapter. in the Sensible Flatts episode, Sheriff Judy called Hacker "Hieronymus" and the cyberchase wikia also refers to him as Hieronymus Hacker. Therefore, in the places where max is calling hacker by his name, i changed it so she's calling him by his first name.  
><em>_

_I don't own Cyberchase_._ Max is mine. now i'm done doing intros. i said that already but i can't stop. okay, i'm done._

* * *

><p>Chapter Nine<br>Family Feud

Dr. Marbles couldn't believe his luck. Ever since Hacker came back into power, Marbles had done nothing except look for a cure for Motherboard's virus _and_ avoid his black-sheep son.

He wondered if maybe his family was cursed to disappear and never be seen again. Or rather, maybe his family was cursed never to be together. First his father vanished, then he and Coop had a falling out, then Coop vanished. Max was kidnapped, tortured, and mutated, and maimed. Slider lived alone without a father to show him the ropes. And Marbles made himself a social outcast because everywhere he went, Hacker was there to take him away.

Marbles drew his knees up to his chest and stared through the bars of his cage at Digit who was acting like a guard – a position that was unnerving to Marbles and the kids who had long since considered Digit as their friend. Digit sat on a stool in front of the cage, wings crossed over his chest, dark eyes narrowed to dash away all thoughts of escape. Motherboard was busy searching the four corners of Cyberspace in case she forgot to curse someone with the Mean Green. Buzz, Delete, and Baskerville were nowhere to be seen.

Inez scooted closer to Marbles and touched his elbow – they had figured out they could move around the cage and they could talk to each other without upsetting Digit. Digit just made it clear they couldn't get near to or touch the lock.

"Are you okay, Dr. Marbles?" Inez asked.

Marbles gave her a half-grin. "My pride is the only injured thing here, my friend." He said. "Are you well?"

"We're fine." Inez told him. "I'm just worried about Max, is all. Do you suppose she's okay?"

Marbles gave her a long look. "I'm sure Max is fine. At least, I do hope she is." He gave a long sigh, removed his glasses, and rubbed at his eyes with one hand. "Max has always been fairly strong, Even when she was young, she didn't let anyone or anything get in her way. Except for herself. Otherwise, she never let anything evil get to her."

He put his glasses back on. "Max is strong. I know that she's okay. She wouldn't let Hacker get his way."

"I bet she's getting ready to turn him off right now." Matt said.

"Ew! I don't want to be here when she _does_ turn him off." Jackie said.

"Max told me she doesn't want us here when she fights him." Inez said. "She told me it won't be nice and it's not something kids should see. She said it would be ugly."

"It _will_ be ugly." Marbles said. "I have been on Cybersite Wyvern. I have seen how gargoyles fight. It is not something anyone should ever have to see."

"Where's Cybersite Wyvern." Matt asked.

"It is a site neighboring Shangri-La. The gargoyles have a government all their own. They do not concern themselves with the issues of Cyberspace. Nor do they care much for what we do." Marbles explained. "Cyborgs aren't supposed to go there as part of the agreement we have with them."

"So why did you go, Dr. Marbles?" Matt asked.

"I went because Max had spent a little bit of time with them. She wanted to learn what it was like living like a gargoyle. I went so I could better understand gargoyles and could, therefore, understand my daughter." Marbles said.

"Sounds like you would do anything for Max." Matt told him.

He smiled. "I would." He looked up at the cage ceiling. "When Max disappeared, I thought I had really lost her. I could have made another child, but there is only one Max." He gave a deep sigh. "Within moments of coming online, Max looked at me and called me 'Dada'. It was just – it was just so beautiful. You cannot possibly know how beautiful it was."

Jackie scooted over to Marbles' other side and gently squeezed his elbow. "I'm sure it was beautiful." She said. "Have you ever told Max how much she means to you?"

"I don't have to. Max knows how I feel about her. We don't talk about these things like that. We understand each other, even in silence."

Inez leaned against Marbles, something that startled the kindly borg, but found he was grateful for the contact. Max used to lean against him like that too. Jackie laid her head on his shoulder. Marbles stared at both girls a minute, then stretched his arms over his head only to slide them down the sides of the cage until they came to rest on their shoulders.

"What do you think happened to Digit?" Jackie asked.

"I'd say Hacker reprogrammed him." Marbles said. "At one time, Digit did belong to him. Hacker made him to be an assistant. I considered Digit to be lucky he didn't get Hacker's personality."

"How could he do that? Why did he do that?" Inez asked.

"It is quite simple to reprogram something, Inez." Marbles said. "It is all a matter of removing an HHD, running it through a machine, and readjusting the programs within. Once you're done with that, the person or thing can be changed to do whatever you want."

"I don't like the sound of that." Matt said.

"You are not supposed to like it, Matt." Marbles said. He looked at Matt like the boy was speaking a foreign language. "It's a dangerous procedure known to completely change the personalities of the intended target. Motherboard had long since decided it should be illegal. Of course, Hacker has never considered the consequences of doing illegal things."

Marbles sighed. "I have no doubt that when Max discovers what Hacker has done, she will fly into a rage."

"That is precisely what I'm hoping for, Marbles." Hacker said, strutting into the room.

He stood in front of the cage with his hands behind his back; leering in at his four prisoners. Digit hopped down off the stool to join his new boss.

"You mean you reprogrammed Digit just to provoke Max into coming after you?" Jackie said. "That's just so . . . so . . . _mean_!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I'm the meanest borg in all of Cyberspace." Hacker pointed out. He patted Digit's head with one hand. "This is the way I figure it. Max is out to destroy me, right? Well, I do not want to be destroyed. So, to be sure Max does not destroy me, I have to destroy her. I've spent a long time looking for her but then, I thought to myself, why should I go hunting for a disfigured, albino gargoyle when I can have that reptile come to me? Then, I got to be wondering how I should get her to come to me. I realized, without much thought on my part, that Max is very close to Digit here and I know how she feels about you, Marbles. All I would have to do is threaten you two and she would come running to the rescue."

"You're wrong about that, Hacker." Marbles said, standing up. He grabbed the bars of the cage and pressed his face close to the space between the bars. "Max is not as careless as you think she is. In fact, she is the most clear-minded and resourceful gargoyle I've ever met. You would do well not to underestimate her."

"And you would do well not to underestimate _me_." Hacker said, shoving a hand hard against Marbles' chest; causing the older borg to stumble. "I had already taken that into consideration. That was why I had Motherboard infect every Cyber-leader with the Mean Green. If Max will not willingly come to me, then I have others out to get her."

"She'll avoid them, Hacker." Marbles said. "Remember, she's been trained by the warriors of Shangri-La. She knows all the tricks to staying out of trouble."

"She can't avoid them forever! Eventually, she _will_ be caught or she _will _come to me. I don't care which happens. I just want her! And once I'm through with her, I'm going to dump the four of you into the deepest, darkest, blackest black hole I can find and I'm going to wave bye-bye to each of you." Hacker said.

"Once again, Hacker, you are underestimating your little sister. You should know better than to do that." Marbles said.

Hacker's eyes grew dangerously cold. He reached into the cage and grabbed Marbles by the front of his shirt.

"I told you once, Dr. Marbles, never to call her my sister. Next time I have to tell you, I won't wait until I get through with Max. I'll tip you into a black hole right away. Have I made myself clear?"

"Perfectly." Marbles said. He did not look the least bit frightened by Hacker's threat.

"Good." Hacker said, dropping his creator onto the floor of the cage. "You'll do well to remember it. I do not make idle threats."

Just then, a voice came over the sound system.

"_HIERONYMUS! I'm talking to you, Hieronymus! Answer me!"_

"Max! Is that you?" Hacker asked, looking up at Motherboard's terminal where Max's voice was coming from.

"_Yeah. It's me, Hieronymus."_ Max said.

"Where are you?"

Max snorted. _"Like you actually expect me to answer that. Don't even try to back-trace me either. I'm on a secure network. No amount of tampering will ever find me."_

"What do you want, Max?" Hacker asked.

"_Everything you took from me. My freedom, my life, my place in Cyberspace. I want it all back and I want it back now."_

"Then come and get it."

"_Nah-uh. You're going to have to come to me. I know you want me, Hieronymus. I know you want me bad. So I'm calling you out."_

"You're calling _me_ out? The illustrious Hacker! You have the gall to demand a fight with a genius of my magnitude?"

"_Yep. I've run from you long enough. Now, I've set my brakes. I'm the rock that cannot be moved. Now, either you come to me, or I'll tell everyone in Cyberspace that you sleep while sucking on your thumb."_

"That's blackmail!" Hacker said, looking over his shoulder to make sure no one else heard that.

"_So? What's your point? You blackmail people all the time! Why should I be any different?"_

"Because I'm a genius borg and you are a ridiculous-looking reptile! That's what the difference is!" Hacker snapped.

"_Hey, I may not have a borg body anymore, but I'm still a borg. So, I'll make you a deal." _

"I don't make deals!"

"_But I think you'll like this one. It's a winner take all, loser lose all. It's right up your alley."_

Hacker thought about it. "Fine. What is it?"

"_You come to me on Cybersite Radopolis. There we'll figure out who is the better borg. This is what it's all about, right? Finding out who's better than the other?"_

"What do I get out of it if I win?"

"_Easy. You get to take my life and keep the throne of Cyberspace."_

"And if you win?" _Like that'll ever happen!_

"_Then I turn you off for good and Motherboard gets her throne back."_

Hacker stood there in silence, contemplating everything Max had just told him. It was risky, that much he knew. Tangling with a gargoyle was never a good thing to do. But Hacker didn't care. He had waited for far too long for the title of Supreme Ruler of Cyberspace to be his.

"Deal."

"_Good. You can bring as many people as you want and anything you need to beat me. By the way, if you so much as cheat, you'll lose everything. Understood?"_

"Yes." Hacker said after a moment's pause.

"_Good. I'll see you in Radopolis in ten hours."_

"Ten hours? That's not nearly long enough!" Hacker said.

_"How long do you need? Or are you too cowardly to answer?"_ Max said, her voice teasing.

Hacker considered it. "Okay." He said, sighing in resignation. "Ten hours it is. And _you_ had better be there, Max. Otherwise, I will hunt you down and destroy you like I should have long ago."

_"Oh, you don't have to worry about me not showing up. But you had better hope, for your sake, that I don't."_

"I'll be there." Hacker said.

_"Good. I look forward to seeing you there."_ Max said. With that, she disconnected.

Hacker grumbled indiscernible under his breath while he rubbed at his chin with his fingers. Then, he turned back to Digit. "Watch them." He ordered.

Digit saluted. "You got it, Boss." Digit said. He went back to his stool and sat down with his wings crossed over his chest and a stern glare set on his once, homely features.

Marbles was no longer paying attention to his former friend. He was, instead, staring at Motherboard's terminal. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Max had not only called Hacker out and demanded he meet her on Radopolis, but she also called him by his _name_. Max _never_ called Hacker by his name. For her, it just wasn't done. Max hated Hacker too much to even acknowledge he had a name. Not to mention, she pretty much attacked anyone who said it.

When Max was a kid, she had refused to even acknowledge Hacker's existence by calling him by his name, usually preferring to call Hacker _him_. After her time spent under his thumb, Max's venomous attitude toward her "brother" had only grown worse - not that Marbles could blame her after he had seen everything Hacker had done to her. Marbles only assumed that her use of pronouns was her way of distancing herself from him - a way of growing unattached to her enemy.

Marbles couldn't help but feel shocked his daughter had even used the name. Not only that, but she had said it four times, a clear sign Max was getting serious.

Marbles reclined against the cage and draped his arms over his knees. He didn't like this. Not one bit. He knew Max had taken up the life as a mercenary bent solely on taking Hacker out. But Marbles hadn't expected that day to come so soon. He had hoped he would have a few more years before Hacker and Max duked it out on a battlefield.

Marbles suddenly felt dizzy. He clapped both hands to his temples and pushed; tucking his head between his knees, he breathed deeply.

Inez rubbed him on the back. "Hey. Are you okay, Dr. Marbles?" She asked.

"Negative." Marbles said. He didn't want to look at her. Inez reminded him too much of Max at that age.

"What's wrong?" The human girl pushed. "Is this about Max? Are you worried about her fighting Hacker?"

"Positive." Marbles said. He still didn't look at her.

Inez went from rubbing to patting. Much to Marbles' amazement, it was kind of comforting. "Don't worry, Dr. Marbles. I'm sure she'll be okay."

Just then, Digit hopped down off the stool and strolled to the cage. "Nobody can stop Hacker and his plans to rule Cyberspace." The cyboid said.

Marbles lifted his head and glared at Digit. "There was a time when you would have agreed with us, Digit. However, it appears you do not know my daughter any more." Marbles crawled close to the edge of the cage where Digit stood. "Don't you remember Max at all? Don't you remember anything about her?"

There was a spark of recognition in Digit's eyes. "Max?" He said, as though remembering. Then, the spark was gone as soon as it appeared. "It doesn't matter. She'll be gone before you know it." He returned to his stool.

Marbles leaned back against the cage again. Fear crept into his body as he tried not to think about all the horrible possibilities to come.

0

When the ten hours were up, Hacker loaded his henchmen, prisoners, and partner - the Wicked Witch - onto the Grim Wreaker. The prisoners were shoved into the prison deck where Digit and Baskerville was sent to watch over them. Thus began the short trek to Radopolis, made all the more longer to Dr. Marbles by feelings of dread.

The stands at the Radopolian sports arena was jam packed with spectators waiting to see an awesome battle. Many - at least the ones not effected by the Mean Green - were wondering how Hacker planned to get out of this situation because there was no way he could stand up to a full-grown female gargoyle and hope to survive. The others that were effected by the Mean Green remained stoic, waiting to receive orders from their new ruler of Cyberspace.

Hacker was the first of the contestants to arrive. He strutted into the arena, chin held high. Wicked strode beside him, waving at people as she went. Buzz, Delete, Baskerville, and Digit were quiet. They didn't smile or wave at anyone. Their job was to keep the prisoners in check.

"Where's Max, Hacky-poo?" Wicked asked, looking around; expecting to see the disfigured, albino gargoyle to suddenly materialize out of the crowd.

Hacker shrugged. "Never you mind. She'll show up." He grumbled. He grabbed Wicked's wrist in a tight grip. "You just do what you're supposed to do. Got it?"

Wicked gave him an endearing smile. "Don't worry, Hackey-poo. I know what I'm supposed to do."

Just then, a roar from above caught their attention. Everyone turned to look up at the clouds. There, they saw Max coming swooping out of the sky, flipping onto her back to perform proper landing technique, finishing it off with a nice stopping run. Max halted directly in front of her foe. Slider, who was on her back, untangled his legs from beneath the wing joints and rolled off her shoulder onto the ground.

"Hieronymus." Max said, giving him a nod.

"Max." Hacker said, not returning her nod. "It's about time you showed up. It's a pity, really. I was looking forward to hunting for you."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Max said with a toothy grin.

"You don't disappoint me, Max." Hacker said, his dark, greedy eyes suddenly on Slider. "Especially when you bring someone like that little nuisance with you."

Max shifted herself so she was between Hacker and Slider. She didn't like the way he was eying her cousin. Hacker frowned.

"How do you want to do this?" He asked, abruptly.

Max ignored him and looked, instead, at her father and friends. "Dad? You guys okay?" She asked.

"We're fine, Max. You just be careful." Marbles said.

Hacker didn't like being ignored. He swatted at a loose strand of mane dangling in Max's face. "Hey! I said, how do you want to do this?"

Max gave him a long look before responding.

"Before we do, I want to add a couple more things to our bargain. First, I've noticed you had Wicked infect Motherboard with the Mean Green spell. Through her, all the heads of the Cybersites have also been effected."

"What's your point?"

"If I win, Wicked must reverse the spell on everyone including Motherboard. Got it?"

Wicked smiled, sweetly. She tucked her wand up her sleeve. "No can do, sweet-pea." She said.

Max growled and advanced upon the witch who backed up, slowly; all insolence gone from her face. "It's either that, or I target you for the next fight."

"Fine! I'll do whatever you say." Wicked said.

"And the other thing?" Hacker put in.

Max backed up so she was between Slider and Hacker again. She didn't trust her foe with her cousin. "I don't want the kids here. I don't want them to watch this fight."

"No can do." Hacker said. "If I let them go, it will take forever for me to find them again. I have plans for them. Just like I have plans for Slider and his dead-beat dad."

Max felt Slider's hands ball into fists. She touched him, gently, with her barb, willing him to be still.

"I'm not suggesting you send them back to earth." Max said. "If it would make you feel better, you can put them in a nearby building until this fight is done. Either way, they aren't going to watch this fight."

Hacker considered it. But he still didn't like the sound of it. "How will I know they won't escape?"

"Send a couple of your henchmen with them. I don't care what you do, just get them off the field." Max said.

"Where will you put them?" Hacker asked.

"You can use my garage. It's not that far." Slider said by Max's shoulder.

That sounded better to Hacker. "Fine. Baskerville, Digit, take the prisoners to Slider's garage. Watch them, make sure they don't do anything funny."

"Yes, my liege." Baskerville said, bowing.

"You got it, Boss." Digit said.

Max looked at Digit. Surprise registering on her face. She looked up at her father who gave her the smallest of nods. Max nodded back in understanding.

"So, you reprogrammed Digit?" Max said. She glared at Hacker. "You had to know I wouldn't like that, right?"

"Who cares what you do or do not like?" Hacker demanded. "Digit is my creation, after all. That's all there is to it."

"He's still a living being and you had no business changing him like that." Max said.

She remained as calm as possible and it surprised Hacker that she hadn't started mauling him yet. If Max hadn't started mauling him yet, it meant she wasn't angry. If she wasn't angry, that meant she wasn't provoked into attacking. If she wasn't provoked into attacking, that meant this would be a long day.

"He's my property to do what I please with." Hacker said.

"No. He stopped being your property when he came online. You can't just make a cyborg or a cyboid and expect them to be your private property. It just isn't done. Not here anyway."

"Max, I am the Supreme Ruler of Cyberspace. I can do what I like with anyone and anything I put my mind to."

"So, I guess that means I have to defeat you in order to turn everything back to the way it was, huh?"

"That's right." Hacker grinned.

"I was hoping you would say that." Max told him. She looked over her shoulder at Slider. "Sly. I don't want you here either. You should probably go with them."

"Nice of you to consider helping me." Hacker said. "This way I won't have to hunt Slider down either."

Max's head whipped around, lips curled over sharp teeth as she let out a hiss that caused him to take a few steps back; the sneer gone from his face.

"bIjatih 'e' yImev."1 Max spat. _Shut up._ "This is more of a self-service on my part because there is no way in _hell_ I will ever help you." She jabbed him in his barrel-like chest with a sharp claw. "You'll only get them over my dead body, and that's a fact."

"Come on, Max. It's not like I haven't seen you fight before." Slider said, gaining Max's attention back to him.

"I mean it, Sly. I don't want you to see this. I don't really want the people in the stands to see this either but I was only appealing to Hacker's ego. Besides, you'll only distract me." Max told him.

She gave him a look that put all future arguments to rest. Slider nodded.

"Okay."

Max nuzzled him and whispered in his ear. "Besides, I need you to help my dad reprogram Digit."

Slider immediately caught on. "Okay." He whispered back.

"Let's go!" Baskerville said. He made a swipe to grab Slider who windmilled his arm out of the cyber-hound's grasp.

"Don't touch me!" Slider snapped as he want to be with his uncle and friends.

Just as the two henchmen started shepherding the prisoners away, Marbles cried out.

"Please, Hacker. Let me have a few moments with Max. Please."

Hacker regarded his creator, severely, then waved a dismissive hand. "Make it quick." He said.

Marbles broke away from the group and went to Max. Max lowered her head and he threw an arm around her neck and buried his face into her thick mane.

"Please, Max. Don't do this. You don't have to do this." He said. He cupped her chin in both hands and lifted her face until she was eye to eye with him. "Please, Max. Nothing good will come of this."

"Actually, you're wrong about that, Dad. I do." Max told him. "Some good will come of this, I promise. Cyberspace will finally be free of him. That's the only thing I can promise."

Marbles ran his hand down Max's muzzle; his fingers rolled over the scars stretched over her nose. "I wish it didn't have to be you, Max. Really I do. I don't want to lose you. I just don't."

"You won't lose me, Dad." Max said, nudging him gently with her nose. "I promise."

"But what if I do? We've been apart for nine years, Max. Don't separate us again." Marbles said.

"Dad, you're just going to have to trust me. That's all. I'm not that easy to kill."

"That you aren't." Marbles agreed.

"Time's up, you bumblesome-bubblehead." Hacker said, seizing his creator by the back of his jacket and hauling him away. "I have some business to attend to with this reptile. I'll get back to you five later."

"Be careful, Max." Marbles said just before he was hauled out of her hearing range.

"I will." Max hollered back.

"Okay, let's get started." Hacker said with a wide grin.

1

"Keep moving." Baskerville snarled, shoving his hand into Matt's back.

The boy stumbled and glared over his shoulder at the Cyber-hound. "Hey! Stop pushing!" He snapped.

"You heard, Baskerville. Keep moving." Digit shouted, pushing at Matt's knees.

Slider kept his face forward; features expressionless to give nothing away. "How long have you guys been serving Hacker?" He asked.

"A long time." Digit said, proudly.

Slider didn't like that answer. Obviously Hacker had fooled with Digit's memory banks, too.

"I have been serving my liege for a few months at a time." Baskerville said.

"Oh." Slider said.

Marbles slid a look to his nephew. _What are you planning, Sly?_ He thought.

Slider slid a look to his uncle. _Watch me._

"So, if you've been serving Hacker for a while, how loyal are you to him?" the teen borg asked.

"Shut up." Digit said. "Keep walking."

"Okay." Slider said.

Instead of walking, Slider started running. His boots pounded the ground and his hood streamed out behind him.

"Get him!" Digit ordered.

Baskerville yelled and charged after Slider, but Slider wasn't easy to catch. Especially when he didn't want to be caught. He ran in a zig-zag pattern, thoroughly confusing his pursuer. Then, Slider stopped, turned, and ran at Baskerville. He dropped into a slide, pushed himself up onto one hand, and thrust his foot into the underside of Baskerville's chin. Dazed, Baskerville fell to his knees then flopped onto his belly. Slider's quick fingers located Baskerville's offswitch and pressed it. Baskerville went still.

While Baskerville had begun chasing Slider, Marbles had snatched Digit up and flipped off his switch, too.

"We haven't got much time." Marbles said to the astonished kids. He turned to Slider who was now dragging an unmoving Baskerville. "We must get to your garage and repair the damage done to Digit, quickly."

"No problem, Doc." Slider said. "Follow me."

The four of them wordlessly followed Slider to his garage. There, he shut and locked the door so they could work without interruptions. The kids watched as Marbles selected a screwdriver off the wall above Slider's workbench and opened a panel on Digit.

"What are you doing, Dr. Marbles?" Matt asked.

"We're going to reprogram Digit." Marbles said. "It's considered illegal to reprogram anything against what they had originally been planned for."

No one had anything more to say to that, so the three kids sat in a corner and watched.

Marbles quickly located Digit's battery pack and unplugged it. Then, he found Digit's HDD, removed it with a jeweler's screwdriver, and set it aside. "Slider, I require a Program Modulator." He said.

"You got it." Slider said. He disappeared into the backroom and returned only a few moments later with a blocky-looking object. There was an angled view screw and a small keyboard on the top of the machine. A wide slot spanned the front of the machine like a gaping mouth. Slider set the Program Modulator down on the workbench by Marbles and plugged it in. "Here you are."

"Thank you." Marbles said. "I'll need peace and quiet while I work. This is a delicate procedure, requiring full concentration."

"Okay, Doc." Slider said and he went to sit on the hood of a half-finished cybercoop.

He switched the PM on, waited a moment while the machine booted up, then slid Digit's HDD into the slot. Strings of code appeared on the view screen.

.HACK/26492087/Program_Modulator.

Maker: Cooper_Marbles/ID:266097

Primary Function: Search_and_restore_damaged_programs

System: On

Found Device: Hard_Disk_Drive/Series_ID: 2672045/Model_ID:2672040/Species_ID: Cyboid/Code_name: Digit_LeBoid

Select_function_option: Search_for_errors/Repair_errors

Marbles selected Search for errors and waited for the PM to finish with its function.

.Hack/26492087/Program_Modulator/Search_for_errors: complete/errors_not_found

"Damn!" Marbles said, banging his fist on the table top.

Everyone jumped. Marbles never swore.

"What's wrong, Doc?" Slider asked.

"I can't reprogram him. At least, not without the original program code." Marbles said in frustration.

"You mean, without this?" Slider reached into the kangaroo pouch on the front of his hoodie and held up a jumpdrive hanging on a string.

Marbles took the drive. "Where did you acquire this?" He asked.

"Max gave it to me. She said it contained Digit's original program. She created a ghost file that contains everything that makes Digit what he is. She asked me to hang onto it in case something bad happened to Digit. I guess she was right." Slider said.

Marbles inspected the drive. It was a small 2-gigabite jumpdrive. He recognized it as the one he had given Max for her third birthday and he was glad he had given it to her. He hadn't known he would need it for something like this and was also glad Max had thought to keep it.

"Affirmative. This will work quite well." He said, removing the cap and jabbing the drive into the USB slot. Then, he waited.

.HACK/26492087/Program_Modulator.

Found_Device:Universal_Serial_Bus/Serial_ID:54789/Model_ID:14987/Capacity: 2000_Mb/Used_capacity: 78%/Free_space: 22%

Select_function_option: Scan/Repair/Copy

Marbles selected Copy. And waited.

.HACK/26492087/Program_Modulator/Function_Copy_complete

Select_Function_Options: Copy_to_program/Write_over_program

Marbles selected Write Over Program and waited.

.HACK/26492087/Program_Modulator/Function_Write_over_program_complete/Errors_repaired/ Hard_Disk_Drive_Series_ID: 2672045_Model_ID:2672040_Species_ID: Cyboid_Code_name: Digit_LeBoid_repaired

Marbles wiped perspiration from his brow and smiled. He then removed the HDD and inserted it back into Digit. After screwing the HDD back into place and plugging in his battery pack, Digit opened his eyes.

"Doc?" The befuddled cyboid asked.

"Digit? How are you functioning?" Marbles asked him.

"I'm fine but . . . why are you looking at me like that?" He looked around. "How did I get into Slider's garage?"

"You mean you don't remember anything?" Slider asked.

Digit looked at him. "No. Should I?"

Marbles picked up the screwdriver again while he explained. "You have been reprogrammed to serve Hacker. Now, Max and Hacker are preparing to fight."

"What?" Digit said in surprise. "Max is going to fight Hacker? I mean . . . I knew this day would come but I didn't expect it to come so soon!"

"Neither did I, Digit." Marbles said. He hung the screwdriver back on its peg and allowed Digit to sit up. With Digit reprogrammed, Marbles felt there was something else he had to do. "You five remain here. I'm going out to the arena. I have to stop this fight."

"But Dr. Marbles. You can't go!" Inez said. "Max told us to stay here! She said she doesn't want us to see this fight!"

"She said she didn't want _you_ four children to see this fight. She did not say anything about me." Marbles corrected.

Before anyone could protest or stop him, Marbles slipped out the door and ran back to the arena. But he was too late. The fight had already started.

0

"Choose your weapons." Max told her foe. "Remember you can't cheat. This will be a fair fight. At least as fair as possible considering the circumstances."

Everyone but Max and Hacker had left the arena. They stood across from one another; Hacker in a wide-legged, wrestlers stance and Max in a very relaxed stance.

"You want fair?" Hacker asked. "Here! Here's fair! WICKED!"

Wicked rose out of the bleachers and waved her wand.

"Twist the bones and bend the back.  
>Trim him of his baby fat.<br>Give him hair as black as black.  
>Give him claws like a wildcat.<br>Give him horns like a goat.  
>Give him wings so he may float.<br>Give him scales like a shield.  
>So to his power his foe may yield.<br>Sharpen his tail into a spike.  
>Just. Like. This."2<p>

A burst of yellow light exploded from Wicked's wand and surrounded Hacker. Once it dispersed, there was an enormous, male gargoyle in the place of the ruthless cyborg. He was a near-perfect image of Max in every way, with only a few key differences.

Aside from having the bear's head, goat's horns, bat's wings, barbed tail, and panther-esk body, Hacker's scales were green, just like his borg's skin, his eyes were obsidian with no sign of pupils, and his mane was black. His horns were thick and spiraled around the leonine ears. He was also bigger and much more muscular than Max.

But that didn't seem to phase the youthful cyborg-gargoyle who only grinned with satisfaction.

* * *

><p>1"bIjatih 'e' yImev" - literally, shut your mouth in Klingon<p>

2Wicked's spell is a modified version of the first spell used in Hocus Pocus; first three lines and last line are the only unchanged lines.


	10. Death to the Tyrant & Epilogue

__Is it possible? yes, it is the last chapter of A Warrior Reborn. This is a double chapter. meaning it's a chapter and epilogue all molded into one.  
><em>_

_I don't own Cyberchase_._ Max is mine._

* * *

><p>Chapter Ten<br>Death to the Tyrant

"Well, that's a disappointment." Max said when she saw Hacker's gargoyle form. "You didn't go through the pain I did to get that form."

"It's the way magic is." Hacker said, shaking his mane and ruffling his wings.

"I know. But You do realize you just made my job easier. I was supposed to destroy you without using more than the necessary force. I knew with you being a borg, there was no way I could destroy you without using excessive force. This is more like it. Now we're even."

"Not quite, Max. Remember, I nearly destroyed you only a few nights ago. You're still weak. Your wings were damaged from trying to get away. You can't possibly win."

"I have more reasons to win than you. And you're making one, fatal error." Max said.

"What would that be?" Hacker asked.

"You'll see." Max said.

She lowered her head and charged at him; horns bared. Hacker barely had enough time to duck his head to catch her. Goat horns met and the impact rippled down their bodies. The two cyborg-gargoyles stood there, eyeballing each other. Lips curled over teeth, claws splayed, wings half-furled.

Then, Hacker gave a quick head-twist, hoping to expose her belly to his claws. But Max knew better than to let her fleshy belly be exposed. She went with the twist; breaking away and rotating in mid air until her feet touched ground.

She charged him, again. This time, Hacker was prepared. He caught her again with is horns and did another twist; snarling when she landed on all fours.

Hacker ran to her. Max neatly side-stepped and gave him a humiliating slap to the rump with the side of her tail. Hacker squealed to a stop, rotated on his heels, and came at her again. Max avoided his attacks, and slapped his rump with her tail. Hacker rotated and snarled at his disfigured opponent.

"You were the one calling _me_ out! What's wrong? Have you lost your nerve so soon? Have you figured out you cannot defeat the mighty Hacker?" Hacker taunted.

"Nope. I'm just playing with you for now." Max said.

"Stop being such a child, Max. Fight!" Hacker said.

"I _am_ a child, Hacker. I was a child when you took me away from home. I was a child when you beat me. When you exposed me to Magnetite and turned me into _this_. I was a child when you tired to kill me with your Dematerializer. I was a kid and you abused me."

There was a collective gasp from the crowd in the stands. There were only a few that were privy to the reasons behind Max's disfigurement.

"I may have been online longer than you, but you were programmed to be an adult. I was program to be like a kid. You are guilty of child abuse."

"A minor technicality." Hacker said, shrugging.

"A minor tech – what is with you and minor technicalities? It's like every mistake you've made is a minor technicality."

"The Hacker doesn't make mistakes."

"Oh really? For the past four years, I've been following your trail of chaos and everything I've seen was mistake. Even worse, you were beaten by three kids – all younger than me – and a kookie bird with the IQ of a six-year-old."

"Is that any way to talk about your former friend?"

"Just trying to make a point."

"I'm sure you were trying to make a point. The problem is, I don't get what your point is."

"Then let me narrow it down for you. You have been beaten 96 times by three kids and whacky bird and three times by me. Today, I'm going to beat you and your evil will come to an end. Now do you understand?"

Hacker grinned. "You say you're going to beat me. You cannot beat me. Everyday since I learned you still existed, I had been hunting for you. I hunted for you and you fled from me like a coward."

"I wasn't ready to face you. Now I am. And I'm going to make it all worthwhile."

"Hah!" Hacker scoffed. "You speak big words for such a little kid. Why don't you show me those are more than words?"

"Glad to." Max said, charging him.

The two met in a flurry of paws and teeth. They struck at each others faces, claws inflicting much damage – skin parting under the sharp hooks. Teeth ripped into skin quite effectively.

The fight was an awesome sight to see. It was like watching two lions fight over a wildebeest. And the noise was deafening.

Then, Max swatted at his face with a half-open paw, an audible crunch met everyone's ears and many of the audience members struggled not to vomit. Hacker's scream was extremely loud.

"I just broke your eye socket. I lost my eye to that gunk you shot me with. How does it feel? Every pain I felt nine years ago, you're now experiencing for yourself. Tell me, how does it feel?"

Hacker gave no response. He rolled in the dirt, groaning with pain as he clutched at his shattered eye socket with one paw.

Then, Max lashed out with a closed left paw; connecting with Hacker's left shoulder. There was an audible crack and Hacker shrieked.

"I just broke your shoulder." Max said, matter-of-factly. She backed away and observed him, severely. "Did you know that if a gargoyle breaks a bone it can take about four days for the bones to fuse back together? I just turned your rotator cuff into a puzzle. All those pieces your feeling under your skin . . . that's your broken cuff. How does it feel, Hacker? Does it hurt?"

Hacker still didn't answer. He clutched at his damaged shoulder with his other paw; hissing as the bones moved under his skin with every move.

"I suffered more than a few broken bones. Your Dematerilizer took away my whole arm. That is worse than having your bones broken." Max continued. "Now, get up and fight. You've still got three good limbs. I've seen gargoyles fight wounded all the time. If they can do it, a genius borg like you can." Max kicked at him. "Get up!"

Hacker staggered to his feet. He knew by now that Max was no longer playing a game. She was getting serious. Then, he realized she had _always_ been serious.

He shifted his weight to his undamaged right paw and raised his left one. He rushed at her; hobbling, ungangly, on three paws. Max side-stepped him and clocked him in the left hip with her left foot. Hacker screamed, again, and fell down; clutching at his shattered hip with one good paw. He knew it wouldn't be long before Max was done toying with him. Eventually, she would grow tired of breaking him.

"I just broke your left pelvic bone." Max said, as though Hacker didn't know. "When you shot me with the Dematerilizer, my leg was the first to go. Having your body deconstructed into a pile of ones and zeros is worse than any break you've felt so far. How does it feel?"

"It feels like you hit me with a sledgehammer." Hacker said.

Max walked around him, now, eyes completely focused on him. She looked like a panther on the prowl; paws daintily lifting and lowering, tail swishing at her ankles, neck so low that her spine lined up with her skull, ears slightly back.

"I'm going to destroy you, Hacker. Just like I should have a long-time ago. I've only been playing with you for the moment. Now, I'm done playing games."

"So, you're just going to kill me? Just like that?" Hacker asked. "I never thought you would sink so low."

"I gave you plenty of opportunity to destroy me. Three days ago, you shot me with a dart, you chained me up, you took out my prosthetic arm and leg, you electrocuted me, and you flaunted it all on Cyber-wide TV. Basically, you played with me."

"So, you've been reflecting everything I've done to you back to me?" He watched her circle him.

"That's right. The only thing I won't do is electrocute you. I have something better planned." Max said.

Hacker stared up into the face of the kid he had picked on. He realized that for years he had only ever thought of Max as a kid, even after using Magnetite on her. He realized Max had changed. She wasn't the kid he had picked on, kidnapped, and tried to kill. Doing all those things had only made her his worst enemy. He had given Max the tools and gall to destroy him.

Max's face darkened and Hacker was suddenly afraid.

"No please! Don't kill me, Max! I'm sorry! I'm sorry for everything I've ever done to you! Just don't kill me!"

Max stopped. She knew he was only begging out of cowardice. He wanted to save his own, slimy hide, that was all, and she thought back to Absolem's prior instructions.

"Make no moves until your heart has been opened to forgiveness. If you cannot forgive, then you forfeit your mission. If you can, then call your enemy to you. Only then can you defeat him with a clearer conscience."

"I forgive you." She said.

"You – you do?"

"Yes. But I still cannot let you live."

Then, she pounced. With one paw on his face, the other on his shoulder, Max clamped down with her teeth and pulled. There was an extremely loud snap, and Hacker went still.

Max released her hold on Hacker's spine and backed up; her eyes on him as though expecting for him to come back to life. When the borg made no moves, She sat back on her haunches and sighed to the earth.

"It is done." She said.

"MURDER! You've just killed my Hackey-poo!" Wicked shrieked. "You murdered my Hackey-poo!"

Max stood on shaky legs. Her breathing labored and her injuries severe. Her ears half-heartedly flicked back as her gaze went to the witch who was now thundering down the bleachers. Wicked ran to Hacker's body and threw herself on him.

"Murderer!" She shrieked, again. Looking, accusingly, up at Max.

"It was a fair fight." Max said, simply.

"Fair? That wasn't fair, Max! You toyed with him! You broke him! He was helpless and you murdered him!" Wicked exploded.

"He knew the risks when he accepted a challenge from me! Everyone knew the risks. Everyone knew what was going to happen. So don't call me a murderer." Max said. She stood up and advanced on the sobbing witch. "Now, Wicked, I've beaten Hacker. Just as I've promised. Now it's time for you to live up to your promise. Remove the Mean Green spell from everyone."

Wicked rose and stood her ground, shaking her head wildly back and forth. "No! You cheated so I take my promise back."

"Wicked!" Max said. She was tired and badly injured, but that wasn't going to stop her. "You promised! I expect you to live up to your promises. Now, remove the Mean Green."

Wicked backed up, suddenly realizing how big Max was. If Max looked dangerous before the battle, she looked deadly now despite the weighted look to her. The bleeding scratches on her neck, forehead, shoulder, and rump where Hacker's claws had inflicted the most damage made her look fearsome.

"You're in no condition to push me around." Wicked said. She tried to look brave, but her face didn't obey her brain's orders. So she tried talking tough. "Look at yourself. You're bloody and scratched up. You're a mess."

"You're going to be in a bigger mess if you don't do it." Max warned.

"Make me!" Wicked said.

Max reached out and touched Wicked on the shoulder; claws tightening until the poor witch squirmed. "How's this?" She squeezed harder. "Are you convinced yet?"

Sweat beaded Wicked's forehead. She took her wand out of her sleeve and waved it, muttering an incantation Max could barely hear. Immediately, the Mean Green spell was lifted.

"Anything else?" Wicked said.

"Yes." Max told her. "You've wreaked quite a bit of havoc around Cyberspace yourself. You haven't done anything to me, so I'm not going to kill you. But, I will require you to serve a minimum of two Cyber-years in prison."

"Not going to happen." Wicked said, ducking out from under Max's paw. "I'll get you for this, Max! I swear I'll get you!"

She started to wave her wand, again, but her instrument was snatched out of her hand by Dr. Marbles. Behind Marbles stood Master Pi and his warriors.

"Trust me. You'll want to take the two cyber-years of jail time." Marbles told her. "Otherwise you will end up like that." He pointed to Hacker's body, now frozen forever in gargoyle form.

Two of the warriors grabbed Wicked by the arms and hauled her away. The vengeful witch shouted obscenities at them and vowed vengeance against them.

Blood loss began taking its tole. Max gave a few, quavering breaths, then sank to her knees; exhaustion clouding her senses. Marbles rushed forward and caught Max; gently lowering her to the blood-soaked ground. He smoothed the thick mane from her face, his brow furrowed with worry. He looked up at Master Pi.

"Max has held up her part of the bargain. Now the time has come to keep yours." He said.

Master Pi did not respond. He regarded the dying gargoyle for a moment. Her pink eye locked onto his brown ones.

"Dr. Marbles, please come away from her. You may want to leave. You will not like what I'm going to do." Master Pi said.

Marbles held Max's paw and stared stubbornly up at the Shangri-La master. "I'm staying."

Master Pi shrugged, indifferently. "Very well." He held out his palm to the cyborg-gargoyle and a white glowing spiral formed beneath his fingers. "Max, since you have fulfilled the mission given to you, I give you back your life."

The white glow suddenly formed around Max and Max screamed worse than when Hacker electrocuted it. She arched her back and kicked and screamed some more. Marbles threw himself onto Max and held on for dear life. His eyes filled with tears when he heard Max starting to choke. Her body shrank beneath his arm and her hand grew smaller and smaller until it fit in his palm.

When Marbles opened his eyes, Max was a cyborg again.

And she looked like she hadn't changed a bit. But she had changed. She was a warrior reborn.

1

The kids were starting to get bored. They heard a lot of noises coming from the battlefield, then silence. A moment later, more noises – louder than the first. It sounded like someone in pain.

"What do you suppose is going on out there?" Matt asked Slider, who hadn't moved from the coop hood since Marbles left them.

Slider shook his head. "You don't want to know." He said in a voice that made everyone assume he had seen something like this before.

No one spoke after that. They waited. And they waited for a long time.

Then, there was a rap at the garage door. Slider jumped off the hood and trotted to open the door; exposing Dr. Marbles supporting a very tired-looking, very cyborg-looking Max.

"MAX!" Digit screamed.

He ran to hug her and Marbles let her arm go so she could catch him. The cyboid and borg embraced. Digit's wings fit around her neck and waist. Max collapsed on the floor, her legs unable to support her, now. She scooped Digit into her lap.

Slider stood over her and grinned. "Judging by your present form, I'd say you got him." He said.

Max smiled at him. "You would be right. I did get him. It wasn't easy but it was kind of fun, now that I think about it."

"What actually happened out there?" Inez asked.

Max released Digit who slid off her lap and sat next to her. Then, the story-telling began.

She told them about Wicked's spell and Hacker's gargoyle form. Then, she told them about the fight while being vague on the details. Nobody asked for her to be more specific. She had made it clear it would be nasty.

"So, how does it feel being a cyborg again?" Jackie asked.

Max smiled. "It feels great. Being a gargoyle was fine and all, but it just felt like I was wearing a suit I couldn't get out of. All I have to say is, I'm glad this whole thing is over."

Marbles reached over and rubbed Max on the head. "I have one inquiry, Max."

"Go ahead, Dad." Max told him.

"When he became a gargoyle, you told him he was making one, fatal error. I don't think I understand what that error was. Please, explain." Marbles said.

"It's actually quite simple, Dad. Hieronymus became a gargoyle. He may have had a gargoyle body, but he didn't know how to control it like I did. He also didn't know the Shangri-La fighting style. I had been a gargoyle long enough to learn how to use my body. I also learned how to incorporate the fighting style so it matched with my size. He may have been a gargoyle, but he didn't have training nor did he have enough time to learn the things I did."

"That makes sense." Marbles said.

Matt touched Max on the shoulder. "I have one question, if you don't mind." He said.

"Shoot." Max told him.

"Back in Control Central and on the battle field, you kept calling Hacker 'Hieronymus'. If memory serves, Sheriff Judy called him Hieronymus, too. I guess what I'm trying to ask is, is Hieronymus really his name or some sort of title?"

Max looked over at her father. "You want to take this?"

"When I created Hacker, I had originally given him the name Hieronymus, which is the Greek form of Jerome which is Latin for Holy. I also gave him the surname Hacker instead of the family name Marbles because he was quite good at intruding into programs. In the beginning, Hieronymus was a very good assistant. I am not sure what changed, but he suddenly lusted for power beyond what he was originally supposed to have. Since his banishment, he never went by Hieronymus and, aside from myself, Max, and a handful of Cyber-heads, there was no knowledge of this name pertaining to that one individual."

"So wait, Marbles is really a family name?" Jackie asked.

"Of course. Why do you think my name is really Maxanne Marbles?" Max said.

"Oh." Jackie said. "So, what's your first name, Dr. Marbles?"

Marbles looked at Max who grinned at him. "Should I tell them?" He asked.

"Why the hell not?" Max said. "I rather like your name, anyway. It's unusual for a borg."

Marbles turned back to the kids. "Eons ago, my father, Net Marbles, created two sons. Myself and a brother named Cooper. You three probably know him better as Coop. For as long as my father remained alive, I was known by only one name. I have since cast aside that name when I came in possession of my Doctorate of Computer Technology. My name is really Dr. Matthias Marbles."

"Matthias." Inez said in awe. "That's a really cool name."

"Thank you." Marbles said.

"It is a really cool name. I enjoyed using it when I was a gargoyle and he didn't know it was me." Max said.

There was another moment of silence. Then, Marbles looked at the three earth kids.

"Perhaps it is time for you three to go home. You can return to Cyberspace at anytime you choose. Just call Motherboard." He said.

"'Kay." Matt said.

"Good-bye, Dr. Marbles. Good-bye, Max. Good-bye Slider and Digit." Inez said.

"Good-bye everyone." Said Jackie.

With that, a portal swirled to life and the kids jumped in. Moments later, another portal appeared, taking the three Cyber-citizens home.

* * *

><p><span>Epilogue<span>

The fight was over.

Dr. Marbles breathed a sigh of relief that whistled through his mustache. Now that Hacker was gone, he could locate the cure for Motherboard's virus in peace. But first, he wanted to enjoy this moment.

Max was fast asleep in her own bed as a cyborg. Marbles had gotten up early and went to Max's room to see if it was all a dream. It wasn't. Max had beaten Hacker. His tyranny was over. Master Pi had kept his promise and turned Max back into herself using mysterious Shangri-La magic.

For the first time in nine years, Marbles had enveloped Max in his arms. Her cyborg body fit in the crooks of his arms perfectly. And Max hugged him back.

The two had been separated for a long time, now. Nine years, Max and Marbles had been apart. Every night, Marbles wondered if his daughter was okay or where she was now. Now, the nightmares of wondering were over. Max and Digit were going to stay at Control Central and watch over Motherboard until Marbles' return.

Max lay on her belly, mouth open, with one arm across Digit's sleep-mode form. Marbles smiled. Then, with one finger, he reached out and touched a strand of unruly brown hair that lay over her nose. He remembered Max being a light sleeper and didn't dare touch her skin with his finger.

His lips, on the other hand, was another story. He gently kissed her on the cheek, Max's eyelids twitched and she swallowed a string of drool creeping out of the corner of her mouth.

Marbles gently patted her on the head.

"I love you, Maxanne." He whispered.

"I love you too, Dad." Max whispered back.

Marbles grinned as he turned to leave her room. He grabbed a saddlebag from outside the door.

"Take care of them, Motherboard. I shall return with a cure." He said.

"Will do, Dr. Marbles. Be careful." Motherboard said.

"I will." Marbles said.


End file.
